In a recent statement, former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has accused his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, of violating the constitutional rights of the former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah.

Amidu expressed his concern over the public announcement of the arrest and subsequent search of the former Minister's residence, stating that it eroded her presumption of innocence and fueled perceptions of guilt without proper investigation into specified corruption charges.

Amidu highlighted that law enforcement should not be influenced by public hysteria and emotions before establishing prima facie evidence through a thorough investigation.

“Populism has no place in law enforcement. Law enforcement is a serious and impartial business as it deals with upholding the constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens suspected of the commission of crime during investigation.

“Firstly, it is unethical to deploy law enforcement in aid of public hysteria and emotions before the establishment of prima facie evidence pursuant to an investigation.

“Secondly, there is no offence known under Section 79 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) as corruption and corruption-related offences,” he stressed.

He further emphasized that the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act does not recognize any offence named "corruption and corruption-related offences" under Section 79.

“The integrity of the OSP is clearly at stake if the presumption of innocence guaranteed the citizen is to be protected,“ he added.

The controversy arose from a press release issued by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, stating that the former Minister, Cecilia Dapaah, had been arrested in connection with corruption and corruption-related offences.

Martin Amidu criticized this move as populist and unethical, asserting that it contributed to the public perception of the Minister's unexplained wealth.

Amidu advised Madam Cecilia Dapaah's legal team to closely examine and challenge the authority of the Special Prosecutor to conduct arrests, interrogations, and searches of residences.

He also called on the Ghana Police Service to investigate the alleged leakage of information from the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which could be a breach of confidentiality under Section 74 of Act 959.

“The Ghana Police Service should as a matter of urgency and fairness investigate the sources of the alleged leakages as mandated by Section 74 of Act 959 as the Special Prosecutor will have to be the subject of this investigation himself to establish which authorized officers committed the offences. The Police cybersecurity department is capable of tracing the sources of the video and other publications on social media.

“It is important that the OSP, which I had the distinguished honour to establish and operationalise, does not leak like a sieve during investigations – whether lawful or unlawful investigations. It was for these reasons that I questioned the unconstitutional appointments of known politically partisan friends of the Special Prosecutor to the OSP these unconstitutional appointments have not been redressed by the Government that is now reaping the distasteful results.

The case in question involves two house helps of Cecilia Dapaah and her husband facing charges for allegedly stealing money and valuable items worth millions of cedis from their residence.

Additional individuals, including boyfriends and the father of one of the accused, are also facing charges for dishonestly receiving stolen property.

The situation has drawn significant attention and debate, prompting Martin Amidu to emphasize the importance of upholding the presumption of innocence and protecting citizens' fundamental rights during investigations.