The First Deputy Minority Whip, Habib Iddrisu, has pushed against President John Mahama's request that the Majority Leader and Majority Chief Whip withdraw a Private Members’ Bill seeking to abolish the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

Mr Iddrisu characterised the action as an attempt by the executive to influence the legislature, cautioning that such interference threatens Parliament’s autonomy.

Addressing the House on Thursday, December 11, he argued that the President had exceeded the powers granted to him under the Constitution.

“Mr Speaker, because of the inadequate releases to Parliament and the executive wanting to control Parliament, now the President is dictating to Members of Parliament. When the Majority Chief Whip and the Majority Leader intend to file a Private Member’s Bill, the President is telling them to reduce it. We have the official letter from the presidency. He has instructed that they should withdraw it. Mr Speaker, the executive has no authority to dictate what happens in Parliament,” he said.

His comment comes after President John Dramani asked the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, and the Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, to put on hold their plans to lay a Private Members’ Bill seeking to scrap the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The directive was contained in a statement released on Thursday, December 11, following intensified public discussion after the two MPs drafted the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Repeal) Bill, 2025, which proposes the dissolution of the OSP.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Spokesperson to the President and Minister for Government Communications, stated that, "President John Dramani Mahama has requested the Majority Leader and Majority Chief Whip in Parliament to withdraw the Private Member’s Bill tabled for the repeal of the Act establishing The Office of Special Prosecutor."

He added that the request was informed by the President’s reaffirmed commitment to strengthening anti-corruption institutions.

This comes after Mahama’s engagement with the Peace Council, during which he emphasized his support for the OSP, saying, "The President’s request follows his public expression of support for the strengthening of The Office of Special Prosecutor as a vital cog in the fight against corruption at a meeting with the Peace Council yesterday."

The statement further noted that, "The President also reiterates his call on The Office of The Special Prosecutor to do more to boost public confidence in its work and frontally tackle corruption in line with the objectives informing the establishment of the office."

Prior to issuing this directive, the President had already indicated that the continued relevance of the OSP depended on strengthened systems and renewed public trust.

President John Dramani Mahama has already rejected calls to abolish the office as he strongly believes it plays an essential role in the country's fight against corruption.

Speaking during a courtesy call by the National Peace Council at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, December 10, the President stressed that the OSP remains the only anti-corruption body with full prosecutorial independence.

“I think it's premature to call for the closure of that office,” President Mahama said.

“The unique thing about that office is that it is the only anti-corruption agency that has prosecutorial powers to prosecute cases itself without going through the Attorney-General.”

He explained that public distrust in the Attorney-General’s office, because the AG is part of the sitting government, makes the independence of the OSP even more crucial.

“People believe the Attorney-General will be very reluctant to prosecute his own,” he noted.

“But if there is an independent office like the Office of the Special Prosecutor, it won’t matter who you are, because they have security of tenure and the prosecutorial authority to act.”

The drafted bill, however is yet to be presented to Parliament by the duo.

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has expressed concerns about potential disruptions to the operations of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) following a petition seeking the removal of Kissi Agyebeng from office.

The petition, submitted by former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, urges President Akufo-Addo to remove Agyebeng, citing various infractions as grounds for his removal.

During an interview on Eyewitness News on May 17, Mr. Kpebu highlighted that the mere initiation of the removal process, coupled with its public announcement, casts a shadow over the OSP.

He emphasized that this situation creates an unwelcome distraction for the institution, especially at a critical juncture.

Nevertheless, Mr. Kpebu stressed the importance of allowing the democratic process and legal procedures to take their due course.

“The petition will have an impact because it is going to disrupt the OSP but we just hope that he will be strong and keep the fight going. But you can’t run away from the fact that even the announcement of this alone will cause him some embarrassment for it is quite a big disruption,” he stated.

Martin Kpebu, reflecting on the concerns outlined by Martin Amidu in his petition to the president, suggested that issues like non-compliance with a Right to Information (RTI) request, as cited, are not usually grounds for the removal of an officeholder.

Instead, Kpebu proposed addressing such concerns by escalating the matter to the RTI Commission and, if warranted, pursuing legal recourse.

Additionally, Kpebu drew comparisons with the police force, where instances of rights violations, such as unlawful arrests, are typically addressed through lawsuits seeking compensation rather than advocating for the removal of police officials.

“On the face of it, these are not matters ordinarily you should say somebody be removed. So let’s say, Mr Amidu asked for some information through the RTI request and he says Kissi Agyebeng didn’t give him.

But if you do an RTI request and the office holder doesn’t give you escalate it. You go to the RTI Commission and then if the commission makes a ruling in your case and the institution doesn’t comply, then you go to court.

Last week, President John Dramani Mahama formally received a petition seeking the removal of the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Jean Mensa, and her two deputies, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare and Samuel Tettey, over allegations of misconduct.

Among the 12 counts of stated misbehaviour are allegations of cronyism, abuse of office, and gross incompetence.

The petition, submitted by a staff member of the Electoral Commission, Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, emphasised that the credibility of Ghana’s electoral system is at stake due to the alleged illegal actions of the officials.

According to a statement issued on Monday, November 24, by the petitioner, Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution provides the basis for requesting the removal of public officials, particularly those serving in independent constitutional bodies.

The former Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, faced a similar challenge and was later replaced by President Mahama after an investigative committee found the allegations levelled against her to be valid.

The Chief Justice was earlier suspended by President Mahama on Tuesday, April 22, after a prima facie case was established, following separate petitions calling for her removal.

A series of petitions were filed against Chief Justice Torkornoo, beginning with one from a group known as Shining Stars of Ghana. The group alleged she violated Article 144 of the Constitution by personally recommending judges for promotion to the Supreme Court and further claimed she ruled on a case involving the Speaker of Parliament without granting him a hearing, despite his refusal to respond to the suit.

Another petition, filed by a police officer who is also a lawyer, accused the Chief Justice of manipulating evidence and abusing her authority, following an incident during a Supreme Court session where he was reportedly reprimanded, arrested, and detained.

However, court records suggest the lawyer’s conduct during proceedings prompted a unanimous caution from the bench, not just the Chief Justice.

The third petition, submitted by a private individual, listed 21 alleged misconducts and four claims of incompetence. Among the accusations was the misuse of public funds—specifically, that she spent over GH¢261,000 and $30,000 on a family trip abroad in 2023 and misused an additional GH¢75,580 and $14,000 during another foreign assignment without proper accountability.

Subsequent reports indicate two more petitions were added, intensifying pressure on the judiciary. Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, in her written response to President Mahama, strongly denied allegations of misconduct and abuse of office brought against her by a senior police officer, describing them as baseless and lacking grounds for her removal from office.