The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has come under fire from Member of Parliament Alfred Obeng-Boateng of the Bibiani-Anhwiaso Bekwai constituency. In a recent press conference, he claimed that the judiciary was in some way impeding his work.
Speaking at a panel discussion on December 8, 2023, on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo, he questioned Agyebeng’s reasoning for calling a press conference and making a public allegation that the judiciary was impeding his work.
He claims that the OSP has already expressed regret for his actions.
“We thank the OSP for his seriousness in fighting corruption in the country and how he is doing his job.
“The government is supporting him with all the needed resources to be able to do his work … however he is claiming facing frustration from the judiciary and for that, he should know better because I am sure by this time, he has regretted saying those things, as a lawyer, he should not be saying these things in public,” he said.
At the aforementioned press conference, Kissi Agyebeng discussed his observations regarding a pattern of dismissals by certain members of the judiciary with reference to the OSP’s work.
The OSP then made reference to four occasions in which the court issued rulings in support of suspects under investigation by his office for corruption and cases related to corruption.
“We do not force feed cases; we do not force feed our prosecutions. It is our belief that it is not a matter of us going beyond our mandate but rather a case of hasty dismissiveness and lack of regard because if you take the four cases I tabled out over a period of time spanning from July 2022 to Monday, there is a troubling trend.
“In one of the cases, I said a judge injuncted us from arresting a person. Mind you, we were not in court. We had declared the person wanted as a fugitive from justice, there was absolutely no enquiry as to why we believed that the person was a fugitive from justice so it is not as if we breached the law.
“No one asked us why we declared the person wanted. Then we were served with an injunction order that we cannot arrest the person meanwhile we know that in our law no one has the right not to be arrested. You cannot say you are granting a person a right not to be arrested.
“So when we receive judicial decisions like that it makes us assume that we are being prevented from arresting someone who is a fugitive from justice,” he said.
Agyebeng’s statements follow the rejection of multiple requests and applications by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in its ongoing battle against corruption.
In July 2022, the Accra High Court dismissed the OSP’s plea to freeze the assets of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John, the former CEO of the Forestry Commission. This decision came after the OSP had frozen all assets linked to Sir John as part of an inquiry into the acquisition of state lands and properties specified in his will.
Agyebeng cautioned against potential risks if the court persists in restraining or prohibiting investigations, suggesting that even individuals accused of serious crimes, such as murder, might increasingly seek injunctions to shield themselves from prosecution.
In addressing the challenges he has encountered since assuming the position of Special Prosecutor, Agyebeng emphasized a recent court ruling that halted his investigation into the Labianca tax case. The court nullified adverse findings made by the OSP against Col.
Damoah and Adu-Kyei, accusing them of misconduct in granting tax waivers to Labianca Company, owned by Council of State member Eunice Asomah-Hinneh.
Despite the court’s decision, Agyebeng has pledged to continue pursuing the case, expressing concerns about the worrisome precedent set by frequent court interference in his investigative work.