Veteran lawyer and former Council of State member, Sam Okudzeto, has called for the scrapping of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), arguing that the institution has failed to deliver on its core mandate since its establishment.
Speaking during an interview on Joy News on Monday, December 8, 2025, Okudzeto said the OSP has not produced any meaningful results in the fight against corruption, despite the high expectations that accompanied its creation.
According to him, the office has become more of a burden than a solution.
Okudzeto criticised the OSP’s structure, strategy, and outcomes, stating that its operations have not justified the state’s investment.
He argued that corruption cases have not been prosecuted effectively, and the public has yet to see any significant convictions or recovery of stolen funds.
“Why was the institution set up? Has it achieved its purpose?
“That is exactly the issue that I’m trying to drive here. He hasn’t achieved his purpose because the corruption is still on. I see it every day. Everywhere you turn in every institution, you see it openly.
“They are not even afraid. People are no longer even afraid. You go there, and they demand money from you to do this for you, when you already paid,” he said.
Okudxzeto stated that the OSP has outlived its usefulness and must be scrapped.
The senior statesman added that the Attorney-General’s Department already has the constitutional mandate to prosecute corruption and other criminal offences, making the OSP unnecessary.
He suggested strengthening existing institutions instead of creating parallel bodies that end up being ineffective.
“Yeah, I’m saying that that institution is not achieving its purpose. Because look at it this way, you have an Attorney General’s Department. In that department, they have a civil section, and then they have a prosecutorial section. This one is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The other one is headed by the Solicitor-General. What is the Director of Public Prosecutions supposed to do? He’s supposed to prosecute criminal offences, which will include corruption, corruption-related offences.
“There is nothing which makes corruption any more different than any other crime. We have a Director of Public Prosecutions, that is his job. Why do you create another institution to do the same job? That’s the whole issue,” Okudzeto added.
He stated that “You see, in other places where you have this special prosecutor, it means that there is a specific problem that has arisen, and you want that person to go there and solve that problem.
“You don’t create the whole institution for it, as we have done. If you like, you can go and search and ask where and where do we have that kind of institution?”
His comments come at a time when the OSP, led by Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, has been facing public scrutiny over its high-profile investigations, some of which have stalled or ended controversially.
Critics argued that the office has lacked coordination, resources, and prosecutorial success.
However, supporters of the OSP maintain that the office needs more time, independence, and political support to fulfil its mandate in a system where corruption is deeply entrenched.
