Private legal practitioner Austin Brako-Powers has urged the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to exercise restraint in its investigation into alleged financial irregularities surrounding Ghana’s evacuation exercise in South Africa.
His comments come after the OSP announced investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences involving the expenditure on Ghana's evacuation of 1,964 citizens from South Africa between May 27 and September 4, 2026.
The OSP has said the investigation will examine allegations of financial irregularities and possible corruption linked to the exercise.
Reacting to this, the legal practitioner argued that the anti-graft body should allow the Auditor-General to complete its audit and use the findings to determine whether further investigations into suspected corruption are necessary.
Brako-Powers said the OSP must be careful not to encroach on the mandate of other state institutions or allow public pressure to influence its decisions.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s New Day programme on Tuesday, November 10, he said some of the issues being examined by the OSP fell within the scope of an audit.
“Some issues will require an audit report to confirm certain things, which is why I support what Doc said,” he stated.
He questioned the need for the OSP to investigate matters such as payment discrepancies and whether beneficiaries received the full amounts recorded, arguing that these were issues the Auditor-General could establish through an audit.
According to him, the OSP may duplicate the work of the Auditor-General and unnecessarily spending public funds if it investigates matters that could first be addressed through the auditing process.
He also cautioned the OSP against allowing media discussions and partisan considerations to dictate the timing and direction of its investigations.
“My caution to the OSP is, let's be careful. Sometimes let's not allow the noise in the media to dictate how we move,” he said.
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