On 16th May 2024, it was reported that, Martin Amidu, a former Attorney-General and the inaugural Special Prosecutor, has submitted a petition dated April 30, 2024, to the President, for the impeachment and removal of the Special Prosecutor, lawyer Kisi Agyebeng, his successor.
Amidu grounds his petition on procurement breaches, violations of citizens’ rights, abuse of office, among other accusations.
Now, the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017, sets out the procedure for the removal of the Special Prosecutor. The act stipulates that upon receipt of a petition for removal, the President must direct/forward same to the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice must, within 30 days of receiving the petition determine whether a prima facie case has been made against the subject of the petition.
If the Chief Justice should ascertain that a prima facie case has been made, a committee must be set up to investigate the matter. The committees tasked will be to investigate the petition within 90 days and submit their recommendation to the Chief Justice, who will then forward same to the President for implementation.
In line with Section 15 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 “the OSP Act”, the Chief Justice in a letter dated May 16 2024 requested the Special Prosecutor Kisi Agyebeng to submit his response to the petition so as to determine whether a prima facie case (a case that appears to be true) has been made out against him.
It is important to state that on June 28, 2018, Charlotte Osei, the then Electoral Commissioner, was removed from office through a similar procedure. After a petition was issued/served on the President for her impeachment and removal (on allegations of similar procurement breaches, the then Chief Justice), Sophia Akuffo, set up a committee pursuant to the Electoral Commission Act. It was the committee’s recommendation that led to or culminated in Madam Charlotte Osei’s removal.
Thus, if the petition against Kisi Agyebeng was to progress to the committee stage and the recommendation should be that he Mr. Kisi Agyebeng ought to be removed from office, the President would be required to remove him from the office of the Special Prosecutor as a matter of law.
It is equally instructive to state that Mr. Agyebeng was nominated to the office of the Special Prosecutor on April 20, 2021, to succeed Martin Amidu, who resigned from the office on November 16, 2020. Kisi Agyebeng Prior to assuming the office of the Special Prosecutor, had been a member of the Ghana Bar. He has lectured at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon, for 15 years, as well as at several other institutions. He has also held the following positions in the course of his professional career: Managing Partner at Cromwell Gray LLP, Chairman of the Electronic Communication Tribunal, Ghana, and Vice Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the Ghana Football Association, etc.
Having assumed office as the Special Prosecutor, Kisi Agyebeng came into the media spotlight when he conducted investigations into complaints of corruption against Labianca Company Limited, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Gaming Commission of Ghana, Charles Adu Boahen (a former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance), and the recent high-profile case involving Cecilia Dappah – former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources.
Kisi Agyebeng has yet to submit his response to the Chief Justice regarding the petition. It is fair to say that the coming days should be interesting. For now, the multi-million Ghana Cedi question on the lips many a Ghanaian is; “will Kissi Agyebeng face Charlotte Osei’s fate”? Stay tuned!
