President John Dramani Mahama has kicked against calls by Ghanaians including parliamentarians, CSOs to abolish the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
President Mahama has urged Ghanaians to give the OSP some time to find its feet and deliver on its mandate.
His statement comes at the backdrop of ongoing debate about the usefulness of the Office in fighting corruption in the country. A lot of people including private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu and investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni have criticized the office for not making any meaningful impact since its inception.
Manasseh lambasted the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng for sitting aloof while allowing highly suspected appointees of the previous administration believed to have mismanaged the economy while they were in power to flee the country without making any attempt to make them pay for their crimes.
Manasseh in his findings revealed that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta left the country while the OSP watched on and only started to make wild claims after Ghanaians started calling for his head.
However, President Mahama emphasized in a meeting with the National Peace Council that it would be premature and ineffective to scrap the OSP at this time, pointing out the need of bolstering the institutions that support openness and sound governance.
Additionally, he urged the OSP to speed up its investigations.
“I believe it is hasty to advocate for the scrapping of the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Let’s allow them some time, but I encourage the office to speed things up a little,” Mahama stated.
