The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has been rocked by allegations of bribery, corruption and nepotism, according to a statement by the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
Amidu, in a 15-page statement sighted by The Independent Ghana, accuses Agyebeng of crossing constitutional boundaries and defying Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
In the statement, titled “Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, Has Crossed the Redline by Scandalizing the Administration of Justice and Must Be Impeached”, Amidu, who resigned from his position in November 2020, claimed that he received information and intelligence from informants and the media that a friend of the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, “from the mountains”, was demanding and receiving “bribes “consideration” from suspects under investigation by the OSP.
Amidu said that the friend of Agyebeng, whose identity was not disclosed, was allegedly using the bribes to tamper with the preliminary and full investigations of the cases, and to influence the decisions to continue or drop the cases, and to prosecute or acquit the suspects in court. He said that this was a serious breach of the mandate and integrity of the OSP, which is supposed to investigate and prosecute corruption and corruption-related offences.
“I do not know whether the Special Prosecutor knows that tongues have been wagging from informants and intelligence, and in the media that a friend of the Special Prosecutor from the mountains usually demands and receives considerations allegedly for the benefit of the OSP during the preliminary investigation and full investigations of case to tamper with the resultant threats to continue with the case and to prosecute the suspects in court,” he said.
Amidu also alleged that some of the suspects who were under investigation by the OSP were either relatives or friends or former clients of Agyebeng or his staff, and that some of the cases were suppressed or delayed because of these connections. He said that some of the suspects who could not afford to pay bribes to the OSP’s friend or staff had to suffer long periods of incarceration, such as one Issah Seidu, who was arrested in February this year for failing to
“Tongues have also been wagging that Issah Seidu had to suffer incarceration for long periods because his friends and relations at home and abroad could not raise considerations to meet demands from some staff of the OSP. Tongues are further wagging that there are completed investigation dockets in the OSP which are not moving forward because senior officials of the OSP, including its head, are either relatives or friends or former professional representatives of the suspects or have received considerations from the suspects,” he said.
Amidu said that he raised these issues because of the invitation thrown to the public by Agyebeng to support the OSP in its work. He said that he wanted the OSP to be transparent and accountable and to address the issues raised at a media briefing. He said that he wanted to protect the integrity and independence of the OSP from becoming a rogue institution.
Read the full text of Amidu’s statement below.
Kissi Agyebeng, The Special… by The Independent Ghana