Calls to scrap Special Prosecutor’s Office ‘premature’-President Mahama

President John Mahama says it is too early for Ghana to consider shutting down the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), arguing that the institution still plays a critical role in the country’s anti-corruption architecture.

Speaking at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, 10 December, during a courtesy call by the National Peace Council, he underlined that the OSP remains the only anti-corruption body with full prosecutorial independence.

“I think it’s premature to call for the closure of that office,” he said, noting that what distinguishes the OSP is its power to initiate and conduct prosecutions on its own authority.

According to President Mahama, this autonomy is particularly important because the Attorney-General (AG) is part of the sitting government, which fuels public scepticism about whether politically connected individuals will be held to account.

“People believe the Attorney-General will be very reluctant to prosecute his own,” he observed. “But if there is an independent office like the Office of the Special Prosecutor, it won’t matter who you are, because they have security of tenure and the prosecutorial authority to act.”

He nonetheless acknowledged public frustration over the pace of the OSP’s work and urged the institution to move faster on ongoing matters. “People want to see more prosecutions and more results. I will just urge the OSP to speed up some of these investigations and show that the office is still very relevant,” he said.

President Mahama’s defence of the Special Prosecutor comes against the backdrop of mounting political and legal criticism of the office.

Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has openly called for the OSP to be scrapped, arguing that, eight years after its creation, it has not delivered on its core mandate.

Addressing Parliament on Thursday, 4 December, Mr Ayariga questioned both the constitutional footing and the performance of the institution, urging the House to revisit its earlier decision to approve its establishment. He argued that the attempt to structure the OSP in a way that appeared to align with the 1992 Constitution was flawed from the outset and that its track record has not justified continued existence.

He contended that after nearly eight years of operation, the office has failed to show “meaningful results” in reducing corruption.

At the same sitting, Speaker Alban Bagbin voiced concern over the continued allocation of substantial budgetary resources to the OSP, describing the spending as difficult to justify given what he sees as underwhelming performance.

Bagbin noted that the strong goodwill that greeted the creation of the office has not, in his view, been matched by outcomes, especially in terms of high-impact prosecutions.

Beyond Parliament, some prominent legal figures have echoed these concerns. Former Ghana Bar Association President Sam Okudzeto is among those who have publicly backed calls for the office to be dissolved, arguing that it has not achieved its purpose and is merely consuming state resources without commensurate results.

Against this backdrop, President Mahama’s comments position him in favour of retaining the OSP, but with clear expectations that it must accelerate its work and demonstrate its relevance through visible, credible anti-corruption outcomes.