Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has expressed concerns about potential disruptions to the operations of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) following a petition seeking the removal of Kissi Agyebeng from office.
The petition, submitted by former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, urges President Akufo-Addo to remove Agyebeng, citing various infractions as grounds for his removal.
During an interview on Eyewitness News on May 17, Mr. Kpebu highlighted that the mere initiation of the removal process, coupled with its public announcement, casts a shadow over the OSP.
He emphasized that this situation creates an unwelcome distraction for the institution, especially at a critical juncture.
Nevertheless, Mr. Kpebu stressed the importance of allowing the democratic process and legal procedures to take their due course.
“The petition will have an impact because it is going to disrupt the OSP but we just hope that he will be strong and keep the fight going. But you can’t run away from the fact that even the announcement of this alone will cause him some embarrassment for it is quite a big disruption,” he stated.
Martin Kpebu, reflecting on the concerns outlined by Martin Amidu in his petition to the president, suggested that issues like non-compliance with a Right to Information (RTI) request, as cited, are not usually grounds for the removal of an officeholder.
Instead, Kpebu proposed addressing such concerns by escalating the matter to the RTI Commission and, if warranted, pursuing legal recourse.
Additionally, Kpebu drew comparisons with the police force, where instances of rights violations, such as unlawful arrests, are typically addressed through lawsuits seeking compensation rather than advocating for the removal of police officials.
“On the face of it, these are not matters ordinarily you should say somebody be removed. So let’s say, Mr Amidu asked for some information through the RTI request and he says Kissi Agyebeng didn’t give him.
But if you do an RTI request and the office holder doesn’t give you escalate it. You go to the RTI Commission and then if the commission makes a ruling in your case and the institution doesn’t comply, then you go to court.