Why Ghana Needs the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP): Reform it, don’t scrap it!

Public debate over whether Ghana should scrap the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has intensified in recent months. Frustrations about allegations of misconduct, politicisation, corruption and questions about professionalism have led some commentators, and even some members of the Legislature (Parliament), to call for its abolition. But while criticisms of the OSP should not be dismissed completely, scrapping the institution would be a grave mistake. Ghana needs a strong, independent, and well-structured OSP now more than ever.

To understand why, we must examine the OSP’s origins, what it has achieved, and the systemic challenges that have hindered its performance.

Historical Background of the Office of the Special Prosecutor: origins and purpose

Corruption has long been recognised as one of Ghana’s biggest development threats. By 2015–2016, public frustration with the inability of existing institutions to tackle high-level corruption had reached new levels. Agencies such as CHRAJ, EOCO, the Police CID, and the Attorney-General’s Department were seen as too politically constrained or overstretched to independently prosecute politically exposed persons.

Responding to public demand for an independent anti-corruption body, the government introduced legislation to create the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Parliament passed the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) to investigate and prosecute corruption and corruption-related offences, particularly those involving public officials and politically exposed persons, recover assets and prevent corruption, and operate independently without direction or control from any authority.

The vision was simple but powerful. That is, create a fearless, specialised institution capable of holding even the most powerful individuals accountable.

Leadership and Evolution
Martin A.B.K. Amidu became Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor in 2018. His appointment generated significant hope and support due to his reputation for independence. Yet his tenure was marked by severe resource constraints, administrative challenges, and conflicts with government authorities. He resigned in November 2020, citing interference and inadequate cooperation. But as noted by research on the OSP’s first years, under Amidu the office primarily laid the legal, institutional and symbolic foundations, gaining independence, defining mandate, initiating high-profile probes and signalling a break from business-as-usual.

In 2021, Kissi Agyebeng assumed office, ushering in a second phase marked by increased public reporting, expanded investigations, corruption-risk assessments, and asset recovery efforts. His tenure has also faced controversies, but it has demonstrated that the OSP has the potential to evolve into a strong anti-corruption institution if properly supported.

What the OSP has achieved
Until 2025 the OSP appears not to have secured any conviction since its establishment. This is a youthful and somehow understandable challenge for an Institution created to monitor and look into the affairs of its creator and others linked to the creator. However, in recent times the OSP has produced measurable results. The OSP claimed to have has secured seven convictions, all through plea bargains (reported by Joyonline on 18 July 2025 at 10:28 am under the caption OSP secures first convictions since its creation seven years ago) and initiated high-level prosecutions against individuals involved in corruption and corruption-related offences. The OSP has managed to block wastes and save public funds. In 2024, the OSP uncovered large-scale payroll fraud involving “ghost names” and blocked illegal monthly payments of GHC 2.85 million, preventing an estimated GHC 34 million annual loss to the state. In the petroleum downstream sector, the OSP uncovered alleged diversions amounting to over GHC 280 million, linked to abuse of regulatory authority. Again, the OSP has intervened in several public procurement processes, stopping or suspending contracts that threatened to cause significant financial losses to the state. These current achievements could also be a signal of the current Government’s posture and pronouncements towards fighting corruption.

These achievements prove, at least, that the OSP is not a dormant institution. It works, and when it works, it saves the nation tens of millions of cedis and disrupts entrenched corruption networks.

Challenges facing the Office Special Prosecutor

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) faces a number of structural, operational, and political challenges that undermine its effectiveness. Chief among these are severe resource and capacity constraints, including inadequate funding, limited staffing, insufficient modern investigative tools, and weak infrastructure. These limitations significantly impair the institution’s ability to conduct thorough investigations and sustain complex prosecutions. Compounding this problem is the limited cooperation the OSP receives from certain state institutions. Delays in the release of information, particularly in cases involving politically sensitive individuals or agencies, frequently obstruct investigations and weaken inter-agency collaboration.

The OSP’s work is further complicated by overlapping mandates with agencies such as EOCO, CHRAJ, the National Security apparatus, and the Police CID. These jurisdictional overlaps often lead to turf conflicts, duplication of efforts, and administrative bottlenecks. Within the justice system, slow court processes, frequent adjournments, and congested dockets create judicial bottlenecks that frustrate timely prosecutions and contribute to public scepticism about the OSP’s effectiveness.

Political polarisation also heavily influences public perception of the institution. Because corruption allegations in Ghana are often viewed through a partisan lens, the OSP’s actions are easily interpreted as politically motivated, exposing the office to political attacks and undermining its credibility. In addition, investigators, witnesses, and whistleblowers face personal risks due to weak legal and security protections, discouraging cooperation and complicating investigations.

Why scrapping the OSP is not the solution

Abolishing the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not the answer to Ghana’s corruption challenges. Ending the institution will not eliminate corruption; rather, it would weaken the country’s anti-corruption framework, embolden corrupt actors, reduce deterrence, create a dangerous vacuum in oversight, and signal to the international community that Ghana is retreating from its commitments to accountability and good governance. Corruption already costs the nation billions of cedis each year, funds urgently needed for education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social welfare. Dismantling the OSP would therefore remove one of the few mechanisms specifically designed to safeguard public resources.

The way forward: Reform, Strengthen, Empower

What Ghana requires is not the abolition of the OSP but its transformation. The institution must be properly resourced with adequate budgetary support, modern forensic tools, and well-trained personnel. It should be insulated from political interference through stronger guarantees of operational independence and integrated into a coherent, nationwide anti-corruption strategy. A more efficient judicial process is essential to complement its work, as are high standards of transparency and internal professionalism.

With these reforms, the OSP can evolve into the institution Ghana originally envisioned, one capable of deterring corruption, protecting the public purse, and advancing integrity across public service.

Conclusion
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) remains one of Ghana’s most significant institutional innovations in the fight against corruption. Its establishment was driven by strong public demand for independence, fairness, and accountability, as well as the widely held perception that existing bodies, such as CHRAJ, EOCO, the Police CID, and the Attorney-General’s Department, were either unable, too politically constrained, or overstretched to independently prosecute politically exposed persons.

Despite the considerable challenges it has faced, the OSP’s progress to date demonstrates both its necessity and its potential to deliver meaningful results. If individuals within the OSP are deemed corrupt, let’s deal with them according to law, and if the need be, replace them and leave the institution to work.

Abolishing the OSP would represent a costly regression. What Ghana needs is not less OSP, but a stronger, reformed, and adequately resourced one, capable of safeguarding the nation’s democracy, protecting the public finances and resources, and securing a more accountable future-public office holders for Ghana and its citizens.