I will make corruption costly to engage in-Kissi Adjebeng
If approved by Parliament, Mr. Agyebeng will replace Martin Amidu, who resigned from the position on November 15, 2020.
The Special Prosecutor nominee of the Republic of Ghana, Kissi Adjebeng has indicated that though he cannot stop corruption, he will make the act very costly for people to engage in.
He realistically mentioned that God will not even agree with him if he claims to be coming to completely boot out corruption from Ghana.
“I am not naïve to assume that I am coming to stop corruption. There’s no way I can stop corruption. God himself will not acclaim to that but, I am going to make corruption very costly to engage in,” he stated.
He however indicated the fact that we cannot fight corruption solely through the criminal way. Making reference to the ‘ritualistic gift giving’ lifestyle of Ghanaians, he mentioned that, it makes it difficult to distinguish the ‘acceptable’ from the ‘unacceptable’.
Mr. Adjebeng made these statements when he appeared before the Appointment Committee of the Parliament of Ghana on July 22, 2021, to be vetted for his new role.
Background
If approved by Parliament, Mr. Agyebeng will replace Martin Amidu, who resigned from the position on November 15, 2020.
In a letter dated April 16, 2021 to the Presidency, the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, said he was satisfied that “Kissi Agyebeng possesses the requisite expertise on corruption and corruption-related matters, is of high moral character and proven integrity and satisfies all the other requirements stipulated in section 13(1) and (2) of Act 959.”
Section 13(8) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) requires the President to appoint a person qualified for appointment as Special Prosecutor to that position, within six months of the Office of Special Prosecutor becoming vacant.
Kissi Agyebeng was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003 and holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Ghana, as well as, Master of Laws (LLM) degrees from Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Canada, and Cornell Law School, USA.
He has, since 2006, been teaching Criminal Law at the University of Ghana, whilst engaging in private law practice.
