Majority Leader Calls for the Abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga
Accra, Ghana - Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has called for the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), describing the institution as unconstitutional, ineffective, and a duplication of the Attorney General’s constitutional mandate.
Addressing Parliament on Thursday, Mahama Ayariga argued that the OSP established in 2017 to independently investigate and prosecute corruption had failed to achieve meaningful results despite nearly eight years of operation.
“The lawyer Martin Kpebu was subsequently released last night, but it raises fundamental issues about the very existence of that office,” Ayariga said, referencing the recent detention of the private legal practitioner. “I recall vividly in this chamber when the proposal to establish the Office of Special Prosecutor was presented. I opposed it. I took the position that it is unconstitutional to strip the Attorney General of the power to prosecute criminal cases.”
He said the framers of Ghana’s Constitution deliberately placed the authority for prosecutions under the Attorney General, who also serves as Minister for Justice, and warned that separating those powers through the OSP had “distorted the constitutional architecture.”
“We knew we were doing something that didn’t sit well with our Constitution,” Ayariga stated. “The office has existed for close to eight years. Tell me, what is really the achievement of that office? Fighting corruption is not about littering the place with institutions; it is about the political commitment of those who lead.”
The Majority Leader said Parliament should reconsider its approval of the law establishing the OSP, arguing that the Attorney General’s Department could perform all anti-corruption prosecutions if properly resourced and insulated from political interference. “If the institution of the Attorney General that we established in our Constitution is adequately resourced and protected by Parliament, that office will equally deliver,” he said. “Why have we created a new entity out of the Attorney General’s functions and resourced it more than the Attorney General, and it is still not delivering?”
Ayariga further noted that former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, had also suggested using a Private Member’s Bill to repeal the OSP Act.
“Let me sound a warning: abolishing it will not let off the hook those being considered for prosecution,” he cautioned. “People should not see the call for abolition as an attempt to shield anyone. I will ensure the process is even expedited.”
He stressed that his proposal was not partisan but a constitutional correction aimed at strengthening Ghana’s justice system by empowering the Attorney General’s office as the sole constitutionally mandated prosecutor.
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