The Special Prosecutor Mr. Kissi Agyabeng, continues to receive threats and accusations from Government appointees and party apparatchiks over his handling of cases and public utterances since assuming office on August 5, 2021. The government functionaries believe some actions and statements of the Special Prosecutor only seek to embarrass and cause public outrage to the Akufo Addo-Bawumia administration.
The latest to join the list of accusers is a staff at the Office of the President, Samuel Bryan Buabeng. Mr. Buabeng is alleging the Special Prosecutor’s involvement in what he describes as “unlawful” activities in relation to some procurement processes carried out by the Office. The call comes barely a week after the Special Prosecutor expressed concerns over the Akufo-Addo Government’s lack of commitment to the fight against corruption, which he believes is deficient in political will to curbing the menace.
In a tirade on his Twitter account, typical of the well known Cyber Politician who is a close associate of the President, he made allegations bothering on procurement breaches and abuse of office against Mr. Agyabeng. He called on the Ghana Police Service, Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to “investigate the unlawful procurement of 50 assorted vehicles acquired by SP/Ana’s Cromwell Gray LLP partner. Primarily to establish the offence of abuse of office, corruption and causing financial loss to the state respectively”. According to Mr. Buabeng, the Special Prosecutor can not appreciate the Government’s fight against corruption because he is “only interested in diplomatic passport and luxury cars”. He advised that the “Anas’ Partner and lawyer, Kissi Agyabeng should get serious for once”. Mr. Buabeng alleged that the Special Prosecutor has purchased fifty (50) cars for his Office with only ten (10) staff. “Who in his right mind would purchase 50 cars for less than 10 staff?”, he asked.
The Presidential Staffer’s accusations follows some pronouncements made by the Special Prosecutor on Newsfile, a popular news analysis program on an Accra based channel that the Government has done little in the fight against corruption. “On the part of the government, is the government ready to fight corruption?”, he quizzed? “I have not seen much commitment. Let us see that support to the anti- corruption agencies, but from where I sit, I do not see it”, the former senior lecturer at the University of Ghana asserts.
Mr. Agyabeng’s predecessor, Mr. Martin Amidu Esq. who was hounded out of office by the government for calling out the president on his resolve to fighting corruption also faced similar accusations and threats while in office. Martin Amidu labelled Akufo-Addo as the “mother serpent of corruption”, for he believes the President to be the main enabler of the canker which has seen the country classified among the league of most corrupt countries on the continent in recent years. Mr. Amidu is reported to be owed months of arrears in salaries and allowances during his tenure in office which ended in 2021 after becoming Ghana’s first occupant of the Office of Special Prosecutor.
In a similar treatment to his predecessor, the office of the current Special Prosecutor has seen little financial and logistical commitment as revealed by a Joynews investigation last year. The investigation reveals that the Office of the Special Prosecutor has a 16-month salary in arrears. According to the report, only the Deputy Special Prosecutor has been paid his monthly salary and allowances, leaving the first occupant and several other staffers.
Speaking on this development, the Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) bemoaned the situation and said the situation has the potential to stall the fight against corruption. “What is going on is just unacceptable and it is disappointing and again you would see that government is doing what we have come to say they do more, speaks to the fact more than acting on them”, she said. She stressed that the government is known for talking more with less results to show.
This latest accusation and attack follows similar ones meted out to the Special Prosecutor in recent times from some government officials and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) top Executives.
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