Some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on anti-corruption and good governance issues have called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to expedite action on the formation of the new Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) board to allow the Office recruit its staff in accordance with the OSP Act 2017 (Act 959).
In a statement by the CSOs, it stated that corruption remains a serious challenge in Ghana and as such, all key investigative and prosecutorial agencies are needed to effectively work to help the country achieve its objectives.
“We remain resolute in our commitment to promote integrity in public life and we assure the OSP of our unflinching support”.
CSOs
The CSOs charged the President to ensure the OSP has adequate funding for the first crucial year of operations. They were dismayed about the fact that of the GHS 1.2 billion that was budgeted for capital and recurrent expenditure, only GHS 80 million was allocated to the OSP for the 2022 financial year representing only 6.6% of what was requested.
“This is far below what was even allocated by government in the 2018 financial year for the setting up of the Office, although the money was never accessed. We acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted negatively on government resources and there are many essential competing needs”.
CSOs
They therefore urged government to do its best to ensure the Office of the Special Prosecutor is finally able to ‘get off the ground’ so it can do its important integrity building and anti-corruption work. An agenda, it says, the President and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have identified as a key development priority if Ghana is to transform and go beyond aid.
CSOs commend SP for communication efforts
The CSOs commended the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyeben, for his office’s effort to communicate and engage with citizens through the media and online platforms and recommended that this activity be extended to the regions to help educate Ghanaians on the work of the OSP.
The CSOs commended government for providing the OSP with the appropriate space to set up its operations. However, they indicated that there is still a lot to do for the OSP to be fully operational to pursue all of its functions.
“The CSOs also observed that the OSP has moved into a new ten-story building at Ridge although it was currently occupying one floor as the OSP is yet to retrofit the rest of the floors, recruit the necessary staff and set up the office fully”.
CSOs
Prior to this statement, a group of CSOs working on anti-corruption and good governance issues met with the Special Prosecutor (SP), Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) at Ridge, Accra. The meeting, called at the invitation of the SP was to deliberate on how best the OSP can work with CSOs to engender a public space where corruption is a high risk and low reward activity.
