Former Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Inusah Fuseini, has clarified that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was never established as a fully independent prosecutorial body but remains structurally linked to the Attorney General (AG).
Speaking on JoyNews on Tuesday, April 21, Alhaji Fuseini addressed what he described as a common misunderstanding about the legal status of the OSP. He stressed that while the office enjoys insulation from interference, it is not completely independent of the Attorney General.
“We did not establish an office of an independent Special Prosecutor. The OSP is not independent of the Attorney General, but it is insulated from interference under the provisions of the law,” he said.
Fuseini explained that the legal framework for the OSP was deliberately designed to strike a balance between accountability and operational autonomy within Ghana’s constitutional architecture.
He noted that the Attorney General plays a key role in the nomination process of the Special Prosecutor. The nominee is then forwarded to the President for appointment, after which the candidate undergoes vetting and approval by Parliament.
According to the former Tamale Central Member of Parliament, this arrangement was crafted to avoid a purely partisan appointment process while incorporating necessary institutional checks and balances.
Fuseini cautioned against arrangements that could either weaken these safeguards or create excessive dependence on the Attorney General, warning that such extremes could undermine the OSP’s anti-corruption mandate.
“If there is too much control, it becomes interference. And interference can lead to selective prosecution, which defeats the purpose for which the office was created,” he warned.
He further emphasized the importance of maintaining the integrity of the OSP to sustain public trust in Ghana’s fight against corruption, particularly in ensuring the equal application of the law irrespective of political affiliation.