General News of Tuesday, 27 April 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Get your hands off the work of new Special Prosecutor – Government told

Special Prosecutor nominee Kissi Agyebeng Special Prosecutor nominee Kissi Agyebeng

Ghana Integrity Initiative a civil society in the anti-corruption field has warned government and its element against interfering in the work of new Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.

As earlier reported by GhanaWeb, the experienced legal practitioner has been okayed by the Attorney-General to replace Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor.

The Attorney-General in a letter to the presidency said “Kissi Agyebeng possesses the requisite expertise on corruption and corruption-related matters, is of high moral character and proven integrity and satisfies all the other requirements stipulated in section 13(1) and (2) of Act 959,” hence he is the right person to occupy the vacant position”.

The letter, GhanaWeb understands has been approved and pending a parliamentary vetting and approval, Kissi Agyebeng will become the second occupant of the office.

In a CitiNews interview, Mary Adda, the Programme Manager for Ghana Integrity Initiative appealed to government to provide the new Special Prosecutor with the resources needed to effectively executive his job.

She said that it is imperative that government gives Kissi Agyebeng the full room to operate and not meddle his affairs as Special Prosecutor.

“Government should be seen to be off [his work]; no interference whatsoever with this new selection. He [the nominee] should be independent and be allowed to work. He should be supported by being given the required logistics,” she said.

She is of the view that the ace legal practitioner is a perfect-fit for the job and expects his rich experience to come to bare in the handling of cases.

Mary Adda further called on Ghanaians to offer their support to the new Special Prosecutor to help him succeed.

“What civil society and all of us citizens would have to do now is to assure him of our support that whatever happens, we are there behind him and will provide our support to ensure that the fight against corruption will be a successful one. And we hope and pray that there would be the needed collaboration and the openness that is required to ensure that he does his work and does it very well.”

“In the past, he has represented some anti-corruption interests and cases in court so if he has been given the full platform to execute his mandate, we hope and pray that he will bring this to bear; the knowledge from the classroom to the office and also bring the knowledge and experience from the cases he prosecuted to bear on the office he is coming to.”