A former deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka, has described as unfounded, opposition to the nomination of Kissi Agyebeng as Special Prosecutor.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, in a letter, nominated Kissi Agyebeng, a private legal practitioner and lecturer to fill the vacant position of Special Prosecutor.
Some Ghanaians especially members of the opposition National Democratic Congress have opposed the move.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, for instance, said the credentials of Kissi Agyebeng pale in comparison to those of his predecessor, Martin Amidu.
But the former Tempane MP disagrees.
In a yet-to-be-aired interview on The Chamber on Citi TV, Mr. Kpemka said the nominee is overly qualified for the position.
“The constitution says at 40 you qualify to lead, even as president. So are they saying you can manage Ghana as president at age 40, but you cannot occupy the office of the Special Prosecutor, a subset of the governance structure at age 42?”
“Kissi Agyebeng became a lawyer, travelled outside the country to do his Masters and returned. He then became a lecturer. He is specialised in criminal law, he has handled a lot of high profile criminal cases before the superior courts of judicature, why will anyone want to deny such a person?”
The nomination
Section 13(8) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) requires the President to appoint a person qualified for appointment as Special Prosecutor within six months of the Office becoming vacant.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has the mandate to investigate and prosecute all suspected corruption and corruption-related offences as pertaining to public officers, politically exposed persons and persons in the private sector alleged to have been involved in any corruption and corruption-related offences.
Apart from initiating investigations on its own, Act 959 gives the Office of the Special Prosecutor the power to receive and investigate complaints of alleged corruption from the public or investigate suspected corruption or corruption-related offences upon referral from public bodies such as the Attorney General’s Department, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
Kissi Agyebeng was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003 and holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Ghana, as well as, Master of Laws (LLM) degrees from Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Canada and Cornell Law School, USA.
He has, since 2006, been teaching Criminal Law at the University of Ghana, whilst engaging in private law practice.
