Parliament has approved the nomination of Kissi Agyebeng for the position of Special Prosecutor.
His approval follows a recommendation by the Appointments Committee, barely an hour after his vetting by members of the Committee last week.
The private legal practitioner would be replacing Martin Amidu, who resigned from the position in November 2020.
The First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Owusu, in announcing the decision of the house said “The motion is adopted, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng has been confirmed as a nominee for the position of Special Prosecutor.”
Mr. kIssi Agyebeng during his vetting spoke on several issues.
For instance, on fighting corruption, Mr. Agyebeng said he will rather focus on making it difficult to engage in the canker than placing emphasis on stopping it.
“I am not naive 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.”
“First, I am going to institute what I call ‘Pressure for Progress’ and in this quest, there will be a systemic review of all public sector institutions and the development of integrity plans.”
Kissi Agyebeng also said he has no intentions of resorting to the strategies of his predecessor, Martin Amidu in fighting corruption in Ghana.
He said he will rely on his own experiences and professional training to effectively deliver on his mandate as a Special Prosecutor.
“There was a reference to filling the heavy shoes of a named individual [Martin Amidu], but I will prefer to wear my own shoes in the sense that, I’m my own man, and I am coming with my own experiences and professional training. In this quest, my conscience and learning of the law are going to be my guide.”
About Kissi Agyebeng
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.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has the mandate to investigate and prosecute all suspected corruption and corruption-related offenses as pertaining to public officers, politically exposed persons, and persons in the private sector alleged to have been involved in any corruption and corruption-related offenses.
Apart from initiating investigations on its own, Act 959 gives the Office of the Special Prosecutor the power to receive and investigate complaints of alleged corruption from the public or investigate suspected corruption or corruption-related offenses upon referral from public bodies such as the Attorney General’s Department, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
