Lawyers warn Special Prosecutor of ploy by judges to gang up and throw out cases

The Special Prosecutor has made public the details of phone calls from lawyers warning him of a ploy by judges to throw out cases from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) if the Office continues to issue statements to the media.

In a media briefing copied to Ghana Business News, he said, “Indeed, I have had several calls from well-meaning lawyers admonishing me that they have heard talk that our friends who have been elevated to the Bench and presiding over cases in court do not take very kindly to criticism, especially of the public-calling-out variety. And that if the Office persists in the media releases, the judges will gang-up against the Office and throw out all our cases. Mind you, the collective admonishing is from very senior and experienced lawyers who are men and women of the world,” the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng said.

In recent times some courts have reversed decisions by the OSP in corruption and corruption-related cases. The OSP appears to have come under some barrage of decisions from the courts that have the potential to derail the work it is mandated to do under The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), which mandates the office to investigate corruption and corruption related acts.

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