{"id":5875,"date":"2024-05-20T09:10:59","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T09:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=5875"},"modified":"2024-05-20T09:11:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T09:11:01","slug":"special-prosecutors-removal-will-erode-confidence-in-corruption-fight-dr-osae-kwapong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=5875","title":{"rendered":"Special Prosecutor\u2019s removal will erode confidence in corruption fight \u2013 Dr Osae-Kwapong\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Project Director of the Democracy Project and Fellow at CDD-Ghana has argued that impeaching Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng would undermine public trust in anti-corruption efforts.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. John Osae-Kwapong suggested that alternative administrative remedies be used to resolve the allegations against Mr. Agyebeng.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo remove the Special Prosecutor from office, it has to be egregious enough but if there are other administrative remedies to address some of the allegations levelled against him, let\u2019s use them rather than first resorting to his removal from office.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t set a good precedent for the fight against corruption and deepens the already eroding public confidence in the fight against corruption,\u201d he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Osae-Kwapong expressed the opinion on Saturday during a discussion on an Accra-based television programme.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discussion followed a petition filed by Martin Amidu, the immediate former Special Prosecutor, calling for Mr Agyebeng\u2019s impeachment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr. Amidu alleged in his petition to the President that the Special Prosecutor breached certain provisions of his office, necessitating his removal.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He accused Mr Agyebeng of procurement breaches in the purchase of vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor, abuse of judges and the administration of justice, violation of citizens\u2019 rights through arrests and detentions, violation of citizens\u2019 right to information, and appointment of personnel to the office.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Osae-Kwapong doubted if Mr. Amidu\u2019s allegations were sufficient grounds for impeachment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026as I look at some of the basis, I keep asking myself, do these rise to the level of an impeachable offence for which he must be removed from office?\u201d he quizzed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-9f8028d69a928cc784ad9a5156d32228 ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:400px; height:400px; max-height:400px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VsL0h0Zf33E?feature=oembed&color=red&rel=0&controls=1&start=&end=&fs=0&iv_load_policy=0&autoplay=0&mute=0&modestbranding=0&cc_load_policy=1&playsinline=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen referrerpolicy=\"origin\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Madam Amanda Akuokor Clinton, a private legal practitioner and Head of Chambers at Clinton Consultancy, said that, aside from the alleged procurement breaches, Mr. Amidu\u2019s other contentions were insufficient to warrant the Special Prosecutor\u2019s impeachment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think aside from the issue of procurement, Mr Amidu\u2019s other allegations do not stand. According to the Special Prosecution Act 2017, the Special prosecutor can be removed for misconduct, incompetence, or actions that bring the office into disrepute,\u201d she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawyer also disagreed with allegations that Mr Agyebeng abused judges, describing his comments about the judiciary as \u201cmeasured\u201d and simply an \u201cacademic assessment.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She added it would be \u201ca slippery slope\u201d to remove the Special Prosecutor based on such an accusation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u201cHis removal would mean politicisation of his office and every future person that goes into the OSP will be persecuted potentially in such a similar way, irrespective of whichever government it is,\u201d she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Alhassan S. Suhuyini, Member of Parliament, Tamale North and Deputy Ranking Member, of the Lands and Forestry Committee, said Mr Amidu\u2019s petition was simply an attempt to judge Mr. Agyebeng by his standards.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the petition for the Special Prosecutor\u2019s removal was unrealistic and that the issues should be addressed through other means.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Project Director of the Democracy Project and Fellow at CDD-Ghana has argued that impeaching Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng would undermine public trust in anti-corruption efforts.&nbsp;&nbsp; Dr. John Osae-Kwapong suggested that alternative administrative remedies be used to resolve the allegations against Mr. Agyebeng.&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cTo remove the Special Prosecutor from office, it has to be egregious enough [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2029,2030,2031],"class_list":["post-5875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-dr-osae-kwapong","tag-kissi-agyaben-2","tag-osp-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5877,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5875\/revisions\/5877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}