Kwame Akuffo: AG Holds Power Over OSP Prosecutions

Private legal practitioner Kwame Akuffo has asserted that the Attorney-General (AG) retains constitutional authority to discontinue prosecutions initiated by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), arguing the OSP’s independence isn’t absolute under Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Mr. Akuffo explained that while the OSP was created to independently investigate and prosecute corruption, its powers ultimately derive from and are subject to the Attorney-General, as enshrined in Article 88 of the Constitution.

“The idea that the OSP can work entirely on its own, without any direction or intervention from the Attorney-General, for me, is not proper law,” he stated. “Constitutionally, the Attorney-General is the only person mentioned and authorised with prosecutorial power. A subsidiary legislation cannot hive off constitutional powers and give them to the OSP.”

Mr. Akuffo’s comments come during ongoing public discussion regarding the extent of the OSP’s independence, particularly in light of recent high-profile corruption cases and questions surrounding the AG’s ability to invoke a nolle prosequi to halt OSP prosecutions.

The legal practitioner, who voiced opposition to certain aspects of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act when it was first introduced under former President Nana Akufo-Addo, maintained that any attempt to transfer the Attorney-General’s powers to the OSP without a constitutional amendment is fundamentally flawed.

“I was one of those who said it was unconstitutional to the extent that it sought to hive off Article 88 powers,” he reiterated. “You cannot take part of the Constitution and give it to a third party through a subordinate law.”

He clarified that while the OSP Act describes the office as independent, this independence must be interpreted within the bounds of the Constitution, not in contradiction to it. Mr. Akuffo emphasized the Attorney-General’s constitutional authority over issuing fiats, supervising prosecutions, and handling extradition matters as evidence of their superior standing.

“The law should be interpreted in such a way that the Attorney-General supports the OSP, but the OSP is not on the same constitutional level as the Attorney-General,” Mr Akuffo said. “The OSP is a working tool—an appendage of the Attorney-General’s office.”

Established in 2017, the Office of the Special Prosecutor was designed as a key component of Ghana’s anti-corruption framework, tasked with independently investigating and prosecuting corruption and related offenses involving public officials. Its independence was intended to shield prosecutions from political interference.

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