The Office of the Special Prosecutor has mounted a strong defence of its mandate and performance after surviving what it describes as an unprecedented attempt to abolish the institution during the second half of 2025.
In its Half-Yearly Report covering July to December 2025, the Special Prosecutor disclosed that a private member’s bill was introduced in Parliament seeking to dissolve the OSP and transfer its powers to the Attorney-General.
The move, however, was halted following a directive from the President for the bill’s withdrawal.
Describing the period as one of intense pressure, the Special Prosecutor said the Office faced “extreme resistance” from individuals and interests threatened by accountability.
He argued that claims portraying the OSP as ineffective and wasteful were unfair, misleading, and unsupported by evidence.
According to the report, despite persistent budgetary and logistical constraints, the OSP’s work has yielded financial benefits far exceeding the public funds invested in the institution since its establishment in 2018.
The Office estimates that its investigations, prosecutions, and corruption-prevention interventions have saved the Republic more than twenty times the total amount released to it over the years.
Among the landmark interventions cited are the corruption-risk assessment of the Agyapa Royalties transaction, which the Office says prevented potential losses running into billions of dollars and safeguarded Ghana’s natural resource sovereignty.
Other measures include reforms in customs valuation practices that eliminated discretionary markdowns, the introduction of electronic auction systems at the ports that boosted auction revenues, and reviews of procurement and service contracts across key sectors.
The Special Prosecutor rejected arguments that consolidating anti-corruption prosecution under the Attorney-General would improve efficiency, insisting that independence from the executive is essential to credible accountability.
He noted that the Attorney-General, as a Cabinet member, is structurally constrained from investigating colleagues within government.
“No person now engages in corruption lightly,” the report stated, arguing that the cost of corrupt conduct has risen sharply due to the OSP’s actions.
The Office argued that rather than dismantling the Office, Ghana should strengthen it through enhanced powers, removal of operational bottlenecks, and adequate resourcing.
It further warned that weakening independent accountability institutions would undermine long-term national efforts to curb corruption and build public trust.
