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The Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee has described the creation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) as a populist move that was unnecessary.
Mahama Shaibu said at the time of its creation, most Members of Parliament (MPs) argued that there were existing institutions that needed to be empowered to perform the functions of the Special Prosecutor.
“The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice was already there, the Economic and Organised Crime Office was there, the special branch of the police service was available, and then the Attorney-General's department was there,” he said.
Reacting to the recent High Court ruling in the case involving the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Attorney-General (A-G), Mr Shaibu expressed support for the court’s decision. He agreed with the court’s directive that the Attorney-General should take over all criminal cases currently being prosecuted by the OSP.
“The pronouncement they made is apt, and it is in accordance with law.
“All we needed to do was to empower the A-G's department, get it the needed resources to be able to prosecute,” he said.
Mr Shaibu said that since 2017, he and other legislators had argued against the creation of the OSP, and the Hansard of Parliament would bear him out.
He said they argued that the creation of the OSP at the time was unnecessary, as it did not have the teeth to bite if ever it was passed.
“The OSP did not have legs to stand on, and if it did at all, it did at the behest of the Attorney-General,” he said.
Mr Shaibu asserted that unless and until Parliament amended Article 88 (4), there was no way the OSP had any teeth to bite if ever it was passed.
“So I am not surprised that these things about the OSP have come up,” he said.
In his view, the MP for Daboya/Mankarigu added that the OSP had no power to prosecute.
He, however, said the office had the power to investigate, search and do other things.
“Unless and until it is authorised by the A-G, it lacks prosecutorial powers,” he said.
Mr Shaibu stated that, with Ghana’s constitutional review process underway, this was the appropriate time for any effort to transfer the prosecutorial powers of the Attorney-General to other institutions.
“You come with an amendment to article 88 (4) and say that these institutions can prosecute.
“As things stand now, no other institution except the A-G can prosecute, and unless you are authorised by the AG to so do,” he said.
The MP said that the consideration of the OSP fell under the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee; he therefore commended the office for doing well in the investigation of several criminal cases.
