A former Deputy Attorney-General, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, has assured that the Governing Board of the Office of the Special prosecutor will be inaugurated soon.

According to him, all the necessary procedures have been completed to ensure this.

Mr. Dindiok Kpemka, who served during the first term of President Akufo-Addo, said this on Newsfile on Saturday.

Mr. Kpemka noted that contrary to some suggestions in the public domain, government remains committed to fighting corruption.

In his submission, he explained that the delay in constituting the Board has been occasioned by the sensitive nature of the role of the Board.

Kpempka noted that, government is doing due diligence to ensure that the right personnel are mandated to serve on the Board.

"There is undue delay, but sometimes it is done because you need to do due diligence to clear those who are supposed to be appointed to such positions, because of the sensitive nature of that particular mandate that you're supposed to carry out as an appointee of government.

So it is better to take your time, do due diligence and appoint these people, than rush and appoint people who will have questions to answer, and then another round of debate will begin, so that we'll have an unending piece of debate amongst ourselves.

So I will say that yes, there may have been some delay in the appointments, but it is for due diligence to be conducted. And I know sooner than later, the Board will be inaugurated and this will became history. So that they can assist the Special Prosecutor to carry out his mandate”, he clarified.

Mr. Kpemka’s comments were on the back of reports regarding the absence of a governing board for the Office of the Special Prosecutor, nine months after Kissi Agyebeng has been officially sworn into office as the Special Prosecutor.

Mr. Agyebeng took Office in August, 2021. According to sections 5 and 6 of the Office of Special Prosecutor Act 2017, Act 959, a Board is required to formulate policies for the objective of the Office, ensure proper and effective performance of the functions of the Office, advise the Special Prosecutor on the recruitment and selection of various staff among other duties.

The Board is also to consist of the Special Prosecutor, the Deputy Special Prosecutor, one representative each from the Audit Service, the Ghana Police Service, Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), Financial Intelligence Centre, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), a person nominated by the Minister for National Security, and one other person who is a female representing the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organizations.

The members of the Board, once appropriately nominated by their institutional heads, will then elect a person other than the Special Prosecutor or Deputy Special Prosecutor from among themselves as Chairperson of the Board.

The President is then required to inaugurate the board members nominated by the institutions in accordance with Article 70 of the Constitution.

However, according to JoyNews sources, although the OSP has written multiple letters to the Presidency reminding it of the need to inaugurate the Board to ensure the smooth operation of the Office, this has not been done.

The absence of the Board is not the only challenge facing the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

According to JoyNews, the other challenge facing the Office is inadequate resources and the inability of the office to put contract workers on its pay roll.
In this regard, the OSP is said to have made a request for the approval of a GHC1 billion budget to set up the office, build a cyber security and forensic lab, cells to keep suspects and purchase other logistics.

But available information indicates that the Finance Ministry committed about GHC170 million out of which only GHC10 million have been released.

Mr. Kpemka however assured that, government is working to resolve all hurdles facing the Office.

Meanwhile, the Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mary Awelana Addah has expressed doubt about the commitment of President Akufo-Addo to fighting the menace of corruption in the country.

According to her, despite a few reasonable efforts by the President to stem the canker, there is the need for the President to demonstrate commensurate action with his speeches on dealing with corruption.

Speaking in an interview with Samson Lardy Anyenini on NewsFile on Saturday, she bemoaned the challenges being faced by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, in the discharge of his duties.

In her view, the absence of a Board to support the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the lack of funds to run the Office, give credence to the President’s lack of commitment to rooting out corruption.

“Let’s be very frank and say that it is no more interesting at all. We should call a spade a spade and say that our President, even though he has promised to fight corruption has not shown that significantly per his actions when it comes to the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

I say so because the composition of the Board is such that it is institutional. And so the institutions present the list, and the list is submitted to the Presidency so that these people are sworn in to take charge of the Office.

And I’m saying that the commitment is not shown by action because, if this gentleman is supposed to work, the Board should give him strategic guidance and direction.

Again per his Act, the Board is supposed to ensure that they advise him on recruitment, particularly of certain staff”, she explained.

Touching on the structural edifice allocated to the OSP, she noted that based on her previous visits, it is only the ninth floor of the building that is fit for use; an evidence of the lack of a conducive environment for the OSP to work.