The Director of Strategy at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Sammy Darko, has stated that the law grants the Special Prosecutor a seven-year, non-renewable tenure, shielding the office holder from arbitrary dismissal by the President.
Speaking on the Law programme on Joy News on Sunday, December 14, Mr. Darko explained that, unlike heads of other security and investigative agencies, the Special Prosecutor and the Deputy Special Prosecutor cannot be fired at the will of the President.
“The Special Prosecutor currently enjoys a seven-year non-renewable tenure. He cannot be fired at the will of the President,” Mr. Darko said.
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He contrasted the position with offices such as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the EOCO head, and the NIB head, who can be fired by the President without the same legal protections.
Mr. Darko recalled that during the previous administration, petitions were submitted seeking the removal of the first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, but those petitions were dismissed for lacking merit.
“Two persons filed petitions to remove Martin Amidu, but both were dismissed as having no grounds even to initiate investigations,” he noted.
He added that similar petitions have since been filed against the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, underscoring the robustness of the legal safeguards protecting the independence of the office.
Host of the programme and legal practitioner, Samson Lardy Anyenini, explained that the Special Prosecutor and the Deputy can only be removed through a special constitutional process, and only on stated grounds such as misbehaviour.
Mr. Darko further stated that the OSP has performed creditably despite operational challenges since its establishment.
“The OSP has done remarkably well, considering how young the office is,” he said.
He explained that although the OSP was established in 2018, the office faced significant start-up challenges, including limited logistics, staffing constraints, and the absence of an establishment budget.
According to him, Mr. Agyebeng, who assumed office in 2021, had to rebuild the institution from scratch.
“Apart from an empty building donated to the office, everything had to be built—divisions, staffing, infrastructure, and investigative capacity,” he stated.
He disclosed that the OSP only attained full staffing and workable logistics in 2023, adding that the office still lacks critical infrastructure, including a forensic laboratory.