Bagbin doubts effectiveness of Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP)

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin, has expressed his skepticism about the role and impact of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in combating corruption.

He said that the creation of the OSP was essentially a futile exercise and that a better option would be to split the Attorney General’s department from the Ministry of Justice.

He made these remarks during the debate on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, in Parliament.

He recalled that he had warned against the establishment of the OSP, but his advice was ignored and the law was passed.

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“I did tell you that it was an act in futility, you were not going to achieve anything but you went ahead and passed it,” he said.

His position is consistent with that of the Minority in Parliament, who have also questioned the necessity and performance of the OSP. The Minority Chief Whip, Governs Agbodza, pointed out that the OSP had not been able to successfully prosecute and convict any corruption cases.

He said, “While some of us believe that office was needless because EOCO, CID, and the financial crime unit, all those offices can combine and do a good job, the government insisted that the OSP will do more jobs.”

“Are you aware that as we speak, they have not been able to successfully prosecute a single case, and anybody punished?”

“So the question is how useful is that office? So we are saying that other people could have done the same thing.”