ACCRA, Dec 9 (The African Portal) – Former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Sam Okudzeto, says the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has failed to achieve the purpose for which it was created.
He believes corruption remains widespread and visible, and the OSP has made no real dent in the problem.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on December 8, he said the starting point is to ask why the institution was set up and whether it has delivered.
“Sometimes someone says it is not what you think you are entitled to, it is what you can give, but it should be. So you’re asking me this question. The question is simply this: why was the institution set up? Has it achieved its purpose?” he said.
When host Evans Mensah asked if the OSP had, in fact, achieved that purpose, Mr Okudzeto was direct. “I don’t think so. That is exactly the issue that I’m trying to drive here. He hasn’t achieved his purpose because the corruption is still on. I see it every day.
“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.”
Asked if scrapping the OSP was the solution, Mr Okudzeto insisted the core problem is duplication of roles. He argued that the Attorney-General’s Department already has the mandate to prosecute all crimes, including corruption.
“Yeah, I’m 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.
“This one is headed by the Director of Public Prosecution. The other one is headed by the Solicitor General. Now, what is the director of all prosecution supposed to do? He’s supposed to prosecute criminal offences which will include corruption, corruption-related related.
“There is nothing which makes corruption anymore different from any other crime. We have a director of public prosecution, that is his job. Why do you create another institution to do the same job? That’s the whole issue.”
Evans Mensah pointed out that the OSP was designed as a special-purpose vehicle to deal only with corruption.
But Mr Okudzeto countered that countries with special prosecutors only appoint them to tackle very specific, one-off problems.
“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; if you like, you can go and search and ask where and where do we have that kind of institution?
“You see, the Prime Minister of England, you know what his position was before? You know how he got the knighthood? He was the director of public prosecution. Justice D. F. Anang, who became the Speaker of Parliament, was also Director of Public Prosecutions.”
He aligned himself with those calling for the OSP to be scrapped and the Attorney-General’s office strengthened instead.
“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. And then, of course, you appoint an individual. Don’t forget, it’s just an individual you’ve appointed.
“Then you are now trying to create an institution around that individual. What is the background of that? That’s the question I ask. What is his background of that individual? If I am going to try and select one of the top legal luminaries and say that I’m giving him that just a different thing.”
He warned that building institutions around untested individuals is risky. “I’m 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.”
Credit: Myjoyonline
