Parliament has capacity to consider Special Prosecutor’s Bill

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, the Ranking Member of the Committee on Constitutional, legal and Parliamentary Affairs, has stated that Parliament has the capacity to consider the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) Bill.

According to him, they had looked at Article Three and other relevant articles of the Constitution and it appeared the OSP was not one of those bills, which the Constitution limited the capacity of Parliament to deliberate on.

Alhaji Fuseini, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, made the statement during an interview with the media in Parliament.

Dr Raymond Atugubah, a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, had recently argued that it was unconstitutional for Parliament to consider the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill.

Alhaji Fuseini also insisted that Parliament would go forward and consider the Bill and is likely to pass it into law.

He, however, said people who strongly felt that Parliament did not have the capacity to consider the Bill and pass it into law could resort to the law court for interpretation. 

Alhaji Fuseini said though the Constitution stated that the Attorney General (AG) would have the exclusive responsibility for the initiation and prosecution of offences, the same Constitution again indicated that the AG could delegate his responsibility as well.

He said this explained why there were many institutions prosecuting in the name of the AG, and that the Office of the Special Prosecutor would also be prosecuting in the name of the AG.

He said because many people raised concerns about the Bill, which was introduced under the certificate of urgency, members called for it to take the normal legislative process.  

Alhaji Fuseini further noted that the Committee also organised stakeholders’ forum, which was massively patronised, after which it went to Koforidua to do clause by clause amendment of the Bill.  

He said the Committee, at all stages of the Bill, had taken cognisance of the varied opinions geared towards fashioning out an institution that would meet the legitimate expectation of Ghanaians.

Source: GNA