Sam Okudzeto Slams Ghana's Anti-Corruption Efforts as Failing

Former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Sam Okudzeto, has expressed concerns that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has not lived up to expectations in the fight against corruption.

Mr. Okudzeto believes that despite the OSP’s establishment, corruption remains pervasive throughout Ghana’s institutions. He stated that the office has yet to make a significant impact on the issue.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on December 8, the seasoned lawyer questioned the very purpose of the OSP, asking, “Why was the institution set up? Has it achieved its purpose?” He further explained, “Sometimes someone says it is not what you think you are entitled to, it is what you can give, but it should be.”

When pressed by host Evans Mensah on whether the OSP had indeed achieved its objectives, Mr. Okudzeto responded emphatically, “I don’t think so. That is exactly the issue that I am trying to drive here. He hasn’t achieved his purpose because the corruption is still on. I see it every day.”

He described instances of blatant corruption, stating, “Everywhere you turn in every institution, you see it openly. They don’t even… they are not even afraid. People are no longer even afraid. You go there, and they demand money from you to do this for you, when you already paid.”

Mr. Okudzeto suggested that the problem lies in the duplication of roles between the OSP and the Attorney General’s Department. He argued that the Attorney General already possesses the authority to prosecute all crimes, including corruption.

“Yeah, I am saying that that institution is not achieving its purpose. Because look at it this way, you have an Attorney General’s department. Is that not correct? Yes, in that department, they have a civil section, and then they have a prosecutorial section,” he explained. “This one is headed by the Director of Public Prosecution. The other one is headed by the Solicitor General. There is nothing which makes corruption anymore different from any other crime.”

While acknowledging the OSP was intended as a specialized unit to tackle corruption, Mr. Okudzeto pointed out that in other countries, such prosecutors are appointed to address specific, short-term problems, not to create an entirely new institution.

“You see, in other places where you have this special prosecutor, it means that there is a specific problem that has arisen, and you want that person to go there and solve that problem. You don’t create the whole institution for it, as we have done,” he said, referencing examples like the former Director of Public Prosecution in the UK becoming a knight and Justice D F Anang, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, becoming Speaker of Parliament.

He voiced support for calls to scrap the OSP and instead strengthen the Attorney General’s office. “That is what should have been done. But I suspect that somebody thought that corruption was too rampant in the country, and therefore, to create an institution for that purpose was a good idea.”

Mr. Okudzeto cautioned against building institutions around individuals lacking sufficient experience, warning, “I am just saying that when you don’t train people to do a job, you think that creating institutions, particularly when they think it’s just an individual, it’s dangerous… It’s very, very dangerous.”

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