Sam Okudzeto is former President of the Ghana Bar Association
Veteran lawyer and former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Sam Okudzeto, has argued that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has not fulfilled its intended mandate of tackling corruption in Ghana.
According to him, corruption remains widespread in the country despite the establishment of the office.
“[OSP] hasn’t achieved his purpose because the corruption is still on. I see it every day. Everywhere you turn in every institution, you see it openly.
“They are not even afraid. People are no longer even afraid. You go there, and they demand money from you to do this for you, when you already paid,” 3news quoted him as saying on Joy News on Monday, December 8.
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Okudzeto emphasised that Ghana already has institutions mandated to deal with corruption, and these should be strengthened rather than creating parallel bodies that deliver little impact.
He explained: “I’m saying that that institution is not achieving its purpose. Because look at it this way, you have an Attorney General’s Department. In that department, they have a civil section, and then they have a prosecutorial section. This one is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The other one is headed by the Solicitor-General. What is the Director of Public Prosecutions supposed to do? He’s supposed to prosecute criminal offences, which will include corruption and corruption-related offences.”
“There is nothing which makes corruption any more different than any other crime. We have a Director of Public Prosecutions, that is his job. Why do you create another institution to do the same job? That’s the whole issue,” he said.
Prominent figures who have called for the OSP to be abolished
The OSP has recently been in the spotlight following the arrest of private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, reigniting public debate about its relevance and effectiveness.
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