The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has strongly justified its financial and operational relevance, stating that through investigations and corruption-risk audits, it has generated savings for Ghana that exceed more than twenty times the total funds allocated to the office since it was established in 2018.

In its Half-Yearly Report covering the second half of 2025 (July to December), which was recently released, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng criticised a fresh move in Parliament to scrap the office, characterising the effort as a distraction orchestrated by vested interests “justly threatened by accountability”.

The report directly pushes back against claims by critics who have labelled the OSP a “drain on national resources”.

The Special Prosecutor noted that even though the office remains in its early stages of development and continues to face “immense budgetary challenges”, it has more than justified the resources allocated to it.

Figures from the OSP indicate that for every cedi spent by the taxpayer on the office, the country has been spared losses exceeding 20 cedis through the disruption of fraudulent contracts, asset recoveries, and the prevention of procurement violations.

“It cannot be maintained by any form of argument that the Office has not performed as expected and that it is a drain on national resources,” Mr Agyebeng stated in the report. “The Office... had a stellar record and its ultra-high profile and ground-breaking corruption and corruption-related investigations... had saved the nation more than twenty-fold the total amount of money actually released to the Office,” he stated.

"Therefore, it cannot be maintained by any form of argument that the Office has not performed as expected and that it is a drain on national resources."

The report details a period of "existential trial" during which a Private Member's Bill was introduced in Parliament by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga and Majority Chief Whip Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor to repeal the OSP Act (Act 959). The bill sought to return prosecutorial power to the Attorney-General’s Office, citing "administrative inefficiencies".

The bill was, however, quickly pulled back after a strong and public intervention by President John Dramani Mahama, who has repeatedly maintained that calls to shut down the office are premature.

President Mahama maintained that the OSP remains the sole institution with the independence needed to prosecute officials within a sitting government, noting that this responsibility is one for which a Cabinet-member Attorney-General is “not well-suited”.

By January 2026, the OSP’s influence is reflected in the volume of major cases before it. Key among them is the prosecution of former National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Chief Executive Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and others (CR/0603/2025), as well as ongoing probes into the Airbus SE affair, payroll fraud that prevented losses of more than GHS 34 million in 2024 alone, the Cecilia Dapaah matter, and the continuing corruption-related case involving former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

The Special Prosecutor also stressed that the office remains open to oversight, citing its regular appearances before parliamentary committees.

He cautioned, however, that the 2026 fiscal year is likely to bring heightened pushback as the OSP broadens its Lifestyle Audits and Unexplained Wealth Investigations.

“The Office does not avoid accountability. It welcomes scrutiny,” the statement concluded, while maintaining that current attempts to dismantle the office are "advanced without any reference to the actual performance" of the agency.

Mr. Agyebeng was administered the Oath of Office and the Oath of Secrecy by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo today, August 5, 2021, at the Jubilee House in Accra. He was approved unanimously by Parliament for the role last week after vetting by the Appointments Committee. Mr. Agyebeng becomes the second person to occupy the office of Special Prosecutor after Mr. Martin Amidu who resigned in November 2020 amidst controversy.

‘Agyebeng eminently qualified’

In an address after the swearing-in ceremony, President Akufo-Addo said Mr. Agyebeng’s professional and academic background is proof that he is “eminently qualified to occupy the office of Special Prosecutor”. President Akufo-Addo said: “He has the capacity, the experience, the requisite values, and intellectual strength to succeed in this vital position. “I urge the new Special Prosecutor to bear in mind at all times that the office carries an extraordinary responsibility to fight corruption independently and impartially”. President Akufo-Addo also assured that like his predecessor as SP, the Executive will respect the independence of his office and provide him with the assistance to discharge his duties effectively.

No regrets over Amidu appointment

The President said he had no regrets in spite of the unfortunate events that led to the resignation of Mr. Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor. He said as President, he always ensured that Mr. Amidu’s office was resourced.

Corruption pandemic

On his part, Mr. Agyebeng pledged that as SP he would work assiduously to suppress and repress corruption in Ghana to its barest minimum. According to him, the country was currently dealing with two pandemics in health and corruption. “The zeal with which your administration has approached the fight in respect of the health crisis, you shall also see in respect of the other pandemic which is corruption,” Mr. Agyebeng said.

Profile of Kissi Agyebeng

According to his profile, on the University of Ghana School of Law website, Mr. Agyebeng has been a lecturer since October 2006, teaching and researching Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Corporate Law, and Legal Research and Writing. He was awarded the Bentsi-Enchill Prize for Best Graduating Student of the University of Ghana School of Law in 2001.

He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law and was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003, earning the E.N. Sowah Memorial Prize for Best Student in Family Law. Since then, he has successfully argued numerous cases before the superior courts of Ghana and participated in several international arbitration hearings.

Mr. Agyebeng has a wide range of expertise in consulting for public sector institutions, including the A-G’s Department, EXIM Bank Ghana Ltd, the Youth Employment Authority, the National Lottery Authority, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited, and the Ghana Olympic Committee. He is also an associate at the African Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Prevention and the National Moot Court Coordinator for the Commonwealth Moot Court Competition on International Criminal Justice.

He has also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Appeals Committee of the Ghana Football Association.