Fellow Ghanaians,
A spirited national debate has erupted over whether the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) should be scrapped. Critics argue that after nearly a billion cedis spent, years of lofty expectations, and few visible convictions, the OSP has failed. To them, it is time to fold it back into the Attorney General’s Office and call it a failed experiment.
The frustration of many citizens is understandable. The disappointment feels justified. But the solution being proposed — to simply abolish the OSP — is dangerously simplistic. It is the institutional equivalent of giving up on a sick child instead of finding a better doctor.
Ghana created the OSP because we recognized that our traditional prosecutorial system was too politically entangled to fight corruption effectively. When the Attorney General is a political appointee, there is a natural reluctance to prosecute party financiers, officials, and politically connected individuals. We needed an independent office whose head was not bound by cabinet politics or partisan loyalty — an office capable of pursuing wrongdoing even when it wore the colors of the ruling party.
Sadly, since its creation, we have failed to strengthen and shield the OSP. Instead of institutional fortification, it has faced political storms. And yes, the office itself is not blameless.
In recent years, it has sometimes appeared more interested in public drama than in disciplined prosecution — engaging in media theatrics and controversial arrests that weakened public confidence. The leadership has, at times, overreached and acted with questionable judgment. But fellow Ghanaians, you do not burn down a house because its occupants misbehave. You change the occupants and reinforce the structure.
The OSP has not failed because the idea was flawed; it has struggled because the implementation has been unfocused and the leadership misaligned. Corruption in Ghana is not occasional — it is systemic. It infects procurement, contracts, recruitment, licensing, and even justice delivery. It seeps into every corner of governance and public life.
Each year, billions of cedis leak into private pockets while hospitals lack basic amenities, students go without textbooks, and roads crumble. This is not a problem that can be solved by returning prosecutorial powers to the Attorney General, whose office is already overstretched with defending the state, advising ministries, drafting legislation, and overseeing all prosecutions. Expecting the AG alone to dismantle Ghana’s corruption network is like asking one doctor to run the entire Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
The OSP is not needed because it has succeeded — it is needed because corruption has grown too powerful.
Abolishing it would be a grave mistake and a lasting stain on our political history. Whether calls for its scrapping come from well-meaning critics or from those hoping to bury their own skeletons, the outcome would be the same: the erosion of one of the few institutions with the potential to pursue corruption without fear or favor.
Instead of abolition, we must reform and rebuild the OSP. Appoint a Special Prosecutor with unimpeachable credibility and no partisan baggage. Strengthen its forensic and investigative capacity. Set strict timelines for investigations. Empower Parliament to exercise robust oversight. And above all, let the OSP’s work speak through convictions and asset recovery — not press conferences.
Corruption in Ghana has no ideology, tribe, or party color. Every time we weaken an anti-corruption institution, we deepen public cynicism and make the poor even poorer.
To those who say the OSP has failed and should therefore be scrapped, I ask: has Parliament not failed us many times? Have we scrapped it? Have the police not failed the public repeatedly? Did we dismantle the police service? Have the courts not delayed justice countless times? Did we close them down? No. We demanded reform — and we must do the same for the OSP.
Fellow Ghanaians, we cannot keep dismantling institutions simply because their first leaders underperform. If that logic held, this nation itself should have been scrapped long ago.
We must build institutions that outlive personalities, strengthen anti-corruption structures rather than bury them, and remember that the fight against corruption is not a television performance — it is a long, difficult national duty.
Because if corruption wins, Ghana loses — every single time.
