President John Dramani Mahama has described ongoing calls to abolish the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) as premature, insisting the institution remains a vital pillar in Ghana’s fight against corruption.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the National Peace Council at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, President Mahama defended the OSP’s unique mandate, emphasising that it is the only anti-corruption agency with full prosecutorial independence.
“I think it’s premature to call for the closure of that office,” he stated.
“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, noting that public distrust in the Attorney-General — a political appointee — makes the OSP’s independence indispensable.
“People believe the Attorney-General will be very reluctant to prosecute his own. 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,” President Mahama stressed.
He urged the OSP to accelerate investigations and deliver visible results to rebuild public confidence.
“People want to see more prosecutions and more results. I will just urge the OSP to speed up some of these investigations and show that the office is still very relevant,” he added.
The President’s comments come amid growing pressure from senior Majority figures, including Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, who on December 4 openly called on the floor of Parliament for the OSP Act to be repealed, describing the office as ineffective eight years after its creation.
Speaker Alban Bagbin also questioned the justification for continued heavy budgetary allocations to the OSP, given what he termed its underwhelming performance.
Several prominent voices, including former Ghana Bar Association President Sam Okudzeto, have echoed the calls, arguing the office has failed to deliver on its mandate and is merely draining state resources.
Despite the mounting criticism, President Mahama maintained that scrapping the OSP at this stage would be hasty and counterproductive to the country’s anti-corruption architecture.