A member of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) committee, Martin Kpebu, has strongly advocated for urgent reforms to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) law, arguing that its current structure is flawed and ineffective.
In an interview on Citi FM on Monday, February 10, following the submission of the ORAL report to President John Mahama, Kpebu highlighted systemic defects in the law that, in his view, hinder the OSP’s effectiveness in tackling corruption.
Per its mandate, the OSP is responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption-related offences, recovering unlawfully acquired assets, and implementing anti-corruption measures.
However, Kpebu believes the law grants excessive power to the Special Prosecutor, limiting transparency and accountability in decision-making.
“I always say that, you know how I don’t hesitate to criticize JM if he has done something that is not good. Yea, but this one is a masterstroke. I went on the ground, and the tapes and the cues they gave us opened my eyes. I saw how President Akufo-Addo tried to masquerade OSP, rendered it virtually non-functioning, will not resource it well, blah blah blah…People opened my eyes, so I have seen the deficiencies in the OSP law. It gives the Special Prosecutor too much power,” he stated.
He further explained that the current system centralises decision-making solely in the hands of the Special Prosecutor, preventing other senior officials from having oversight of incoming petitions.
“Every petition lands on his desk, so he alone decides whether this case should be investigated or not. The rest of his directors don’t see. So that’s one of the key things we will be asking President JM to have the OSP law amended, so that when petitions come, the directors—all of them—should see and decide.
“Today, if you take a petition to OSP, it goes from the reception straight to the Special Prosecutor’s desk, that is it. So if he doesn’t want to investigate it, that is the end.
“He has absolute control, the rest won’t see. It is a huge blot on the law. Is it any wonder that it has not yielded as much results as we want?” Kpebu questioned.
His remarks have reignited discussions on the effectiveness of the OSP and whether legislative reforms are necessary to enhance its operations.
