Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has expressed concern over what he perceives as a pattern of dismissiveness and regression from certain members of the judiciary regarding the efforts of the OSP.

Mr Agyebeng pointed to four specific instances where the court, in his view, made troubling pronouncements favoring suspects under investigation for corruption and corruption-related cases handled by his office.

"We do not force feed cases; we do not force feed our prosecutions. It is our belief that it is not a matter of us going beyond our mandate but rather a case of hasty dismissiveness and lack of regard because if you take the four cases I tabled out over a period of time spanning from July 2022 to Monday, there is a troubling trend.

"In one of the cases, I said a judge injuncted us from arresting a person. Mind you, we were not in court. We had declared the person wanted as a fugitive from justice, there was absolutely no enquiry as to why we believed that the person was a fugitive from justice so it is not as if we breached the law.

"No one asked us why we declared the person wanted. Then we were served with an injunction order that we cannot arrest the person meanwhile we know that in our law no one has the right not to be arrested. You cannot say you are granting a person a right not to be arrested.

"So when we receive judicial decisions like that it makes us assume that we are being prevented from arresting someone who is a fugitive from justice,” he said.

Addressing reporters at a press conference convened in Accra on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng emphasized that, in his view, the challenge stems from the court's perceived disregard for the investigations rather than any violation of the law on the part of his office.

“No one has the right in Ghana not to be investigated and the statutory power to be investigated for corruption and corruption-related offenses is that of the OSP, so if a judge seeks to injunct or prohibit an investigation, the judge is arrogating the power of the OSP to himself by deciding who should be and who should not be investigated, but it is not the duty of the court to do that.

“Wait let us bring before you the body of our investigation as evidence and if you look at it and you decide that the evidence does not show up to the standard of proof required in criminal cases then you can dismiss it but don't prevent us from doing our work, from investigating. It is dangerous.

“As I said I wasn’t sounding as a prophet of doom but there is doom looming ahead of us that very soon a murderer will boldly walk to court to seek an injunction,” he said.

Kissi Agyebeng's statements come in response to a series of rejections of requests and applications made by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in its ongoing anti-corruption efforts.

In a notable instance, the Accra High Court dismissed the OSP's plea in July 2022 to freeze the assets of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John, the former CEO of the Forestry Commission. The OSP had taken this action as part of an investigation into the acquisition of state lands and properties outlined in Sir John's will.

Agyebeng expressed concern about potential risks if the courts persist in obstructing or restraining investigations. He warned that individuals, including those involved in serious crimes like murder, might increasingly seek injunctions to shield themselves from prosecution.

Highlighting the challenges faced since assuming the role of Special Prosecutor, Agyebeng cited a recent court ruling that halted an investigation into the Labianca tax case. The court nullified adverse findings made by the OSP against Col. Damoah and Adu-Kyei, accusing them of misconduct in granting tax waivers to Labianca Company, owned by Council of State member Eunice Asomah-Hinneh.

Despite the court's decision, Agyebeng affirmed his commitment to pursuing the case, expressing worries about the potential negative precedent established by frequent court interventions in his investigative work.