The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has described the passage of the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) Act as an exercise in futility.
The Speaker said the solution to the fight against corruption was not to create another bureaucratic institution, but rather strengthen existing anti-graft agencies.
“As for the law you passed on the Office of the Special Prosecutor, I did tell you that it was an act in futility. I maintained that you were not going to achieve anything with that but you went ahead and passed it. I disagreed with you but I was alone,” the Speaker stated.
He made this comment during the consideration of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill in Accra yesterday.
The Speaker’s assessment of the OSP Act was in response to arguments for the extrapolation of sections of the Criminal Offences Act which proscribe same sex relationship into the anti-LGBTQI Bill as was the case in the OSP Act.
The Speaker said he was and remained convinced that the powers ceded to the Special Prosecutor could have been exercised by the Office of the Attorney-General if same was independent of the political authority
“I am very clear in my mind that that authority is imbedded in the powers of the Attorney-General.
“What we needed to do (in the fight against corruption) was to fund the office of the Attorney-General and separate it from the Minister of Justice.
“The Minister of Justice is a political appointment but the Attorney-General is a technical person,” the Speaker noted.
This comes on the back of allegations of developing trends of “regressive and dismissive” judicial decisions in respect of cases involving the OSP.
The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, a fortnight ago predicted doom in the fight against corruption if the court continued with its dismissive attitude towards his outfit.
Citing four examples which include the rejection of a confirmation of freezing order and an injunction order against the OSP from arresting a suspect, Mr Kissi Agyebeng said those decisions by the Court could put a spike in the wheel of the fight against corruption.
The House, meanwhile, has approved GH¢149 million for the operations of the OSP for the year ending December 31, 2024.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
