Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng
The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has stated that the fight against corruption cannot be waged and won solely through punitive measures and incarceration.
According to him, the legislative framework establishing the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) places significant emphasis on corruption prevention, asset recovery, and the disgorgement of tainted property.
He explained that the OSP is pursuing sustainable anti-corruption outcomes by pairing enforcement with robust prevention measures and asset recovery, particularly under Ghana’s unique plea-bargaining regime.
“In this spirit, the Office has scaled up its preventive mandate through active engagement with public institutions, private sector actors, and civil society, while also securing convictions and asset recovery through impactful plea bargaining,” he stated.
Mr. Agyebeng made these remarks in the OSP’s 2025 Half-Year Report, which outlines investigations, prosecutions, and operational developments between January 1 and July 31, 2025.
In the preface of the report, he emphasized the need to modernize Ghana’s anti-corruption legal framework.
“We reckon that the nation’s anti-corruption legal framework requires re-imagination, modernization, and retooling to address the immense scale and complexity of modern corruption within our social, economic, and political constructs,” he noted.
As part of proposed reforms, the OSP has called for the inclusion of a new chapter in Ghana’s Constitution dedicated to anti-corruption. This would institutionalize measures such as lifestyle audits, non-conviction-based asset recovery, enhanced asset declaration and verification, and a reverse onus presumption of corruption as the foundation for both criminal proceedings and civil asset recovery.
He further revealed that the OSP is leading advocacy for the passage of a comprehensive Corrupt Practices Act and a Conduct of Public Officers Act.
“The Office, as one of three implementing partners of the new National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Strategy and Implementation Plan, is fashioning anti-corruption structures that will stand the test of time. The task ahead remains formidable—but so is our resolve to deliver,” Mr. Agyebeng stressed.
Source:3news.com
