Kissi Agyebeng’s appointment as Special Prosecutor was a mistake — Ishaq Ibrahim

A lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Ishaq Ibrahim, has described the appointment of Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng as a mistake.

He argued that Mr. Agyebeng's leadership style is not compatible with the mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

According to him, the Special Prosecutor has been too quick to engage the public through press briefings without sufficient evidence, a practice he says has contributed to some cases being struck out in court.

Speaking on Accra-based Joy Prime TV on Monday, April 20, the legal practitioner said the office itself remains important but questioned the approach of its current head.

“I have a problem with the person who is heading it now. His personality seems not to be compatible with the objectives of the body the government put him in that office,” he said.

“For me, his style of doing investigations is more extreme… because the moment you start investigations and come out talking about it, and later go to court unprepared, your application gets thrown away,” he added.

His comments come in the wake of a High Court ruling delivered on Wednesday, April 15, by Justice John Eugene Nyadu Nyante, which held that the OSP cannot independently prosecute cases without authorisation from the Attorney-General under Article 88(4) of the 1992 Constitution.

The ruling also directed that ongoing prosecutions initiated by the OSP be transferred to the Attorney-General until the office is properly clothed with legal backing to proceed independently.