Creation of OSP was political gimmick by Akufo-Addo's gov’t – Kwesi Pratt

Veteran journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has dismissed the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) as a political maneuver rather than a sincere effort to tackle corruption in Ghana.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Mr Pratt said the creation of the OSP was “a political gimmick” that had done little to strengthen the country’s legal or governance systems.

“The establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor was just a political gimmick with no substantial consequences for legal practice in Ghana,” he said. “We said so, and everybody ignored our counsel.”

He argued that both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) played roles in the political theatrics surrounding the office. According to him, the NDC failed to oppose its creation because it did not want to appear weak on corruption, despite knowing the move would achieve little.

“The NPP, on its part, wanted to create the impression that it was taking the fight to corruption,” Mr Pratt said. “But in reality, this was a gimmick which brought the OSP into being.”

Mr Pratt stressed that the creation of the OSP did not alter Ghana’s constitutional framework for prosecutions, since Article 88 of the Constitution still grants exclusive prosecutorial powers to the Attorney General.

“It is clear that the Attorney General is still in charge of all criminal prosecutions and all civil suits against the government,” he said.

His comments come amid rising friction between the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Attorney General over jurisdictional disputes, particularly in ongoing investigations involving former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and other corruption-related cases.