Opponents of OSP have not considered its performance over last 6 years – Kissi Agyebeng

By Selorm GBORBIDZI, Accra

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has accused persons who have called to for the scrapping of the anti-corruption office, of not considering the performance of the office over the last six years.

In his opinion, these attempts to get the office scrapped have been reactions by persons who have been on the wrong end of the Special Prosecutor’s Investigative scope.

He was speaking at a roundtable discussion on governance, state capture and corruption, organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

According to him, the OSP faces a formidable existential challenge, in addition to the challenges facing the fight against corruption.

He said, “The OSP faces a formidable existential challenge. Its very essence and existence is hemmed so tightly, as if in a vise to scupper it. It should perhaps not be surprising as its creation itself was greeted with immense skepticism.”

He recalled the arguments that took place at the time about the relevance of the office and its necessity.

Although he welcomed the idea of appraising the office, Kissi Agyebeng made the point that an examination of the calls to do away with OSP shows that these calls are made without reference to the performance of the Office, with the calls focusing mainly on the nascent challenges which have come with the establishment of the office.

In response to these calls, the SP said, “the creation and establishment of every institution comes with the life circumstances of the pangs of childbirth, and the raw emotion and anxiety of raising a child. These are natural.”

He therefore argued against the scrapping of the office on these grounds. He instead opined that “we must dutifully care for the six-year-old child which is the OSP, and not kill it. With forbearance, let us mark her growth and development. Condemnation at this stage is wholly unwholesome. ”

Commissioner of Police (COP) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo Dankwa, the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) who was on the panel, and also spoke on the topic ‘Efforts and challenges of a state institution in the fight against corruption.’

She lamented the public’s lack of cooperation in the evidence gathering process of law enforcement.

According to her, although Ghanaians are quick to make allegations, evidence gathering of the said corruption is one of the challenges facing law enforcement.

She said, “We have a lot of people making wild allegations, but when it comes to supporting the allegations with evidence, we won’t even hear from them again. But the point is that it’s not merely about saying something. It’s also not about how many media houses are saying something. It’s about your ability to put credible evidence together that will be presented to the judge for prosecution.”

COP Addo-Dankwa also argued that to fight institutional corruption within specific establishments, its important to fight the corruption in the form it has taken, stating that a one size-fits-all approach will not work for all forms of corruption.

She advised investigative bodies such as the EOCO to follow the rules in the course of their work so technical rulings will not them when they go to court.

The Executive Director said, “if we are not able to do our work well, people will get away with their corrupt deeds.”

If you do not create opportunity for people to be corrupt, it will be brought to the barest minimum.”

Professor Daniel Kaufmann, a senior fellow at Research for Development (R4D) and The Brookings Institution, speaking on the implications of state capture worldwide described corruption as a “symptom of multidimensional institutional failure.”

As a way of tackling the phenomenon of state capture, he advised law enforcement to “focus on the captor, instead of focusing on a public servant.”