For the second time in six months, a petition has been submitted to the President seeking the removal of Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng. This latest petition comes from Kenneth Kwabena Agyei Kuranchie, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Searchlight newspaper, who is calling for Mr. Agyebeng’s removal over the use of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to conduct polygraph tests on staff members of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The OSP carried out polygraph tests on nearly all its employees as part of its vetting process to ensure staff met high standards of integrity, crucial for working in an anti-corruption office. The polygraph tests were also intended to help identify potential moles within the organization. According to The High Street Journal, sources the OSP is the first security agency in Ghana to implement such a widespread polygraph test, which is expected to be repeated every five years. The tests were conducted by an independent body to maintain the integrity of the process, per sources.
OSP regulations mandate vetting for both employees and their spouses. However, Mr. Kuranchie who is seeking to be a Member of Parliament as an independent candidate after losing the NPP primaries, argues that using a foreign agency like the FBI to perform the polygraphs violates Ghanaian law. He points out that the tests were not conducted by Ghana’s National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and were instead outsourced to the FBI, a U.S. government agency, which he claims contravenes laws enacted by Parliament.
In his petition, Mr. Kuranchie states that the involvement of a foreign entity in security checks for a national body like the OSP constitutes “stated misbehaviour” under Ghanaian law. He argues that it represents a willful violation of the Official Oath and Oath of Secrecy, potentially jeopardizing the economy and national security. Furthermore, he claims that the use of the FBI breaches Ghana’s Data Protection Act.
In response to the petition, acting Secretary to the President, Kow Essuman, confirmed that the President has referred the petition to the Chief Justice, who will determine whether there are sufficient grounds for investigation.
In May this year, former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu also petitioned for his successor’s removal, but his request was dismissed after a review by the Chief Justice. The former Special Prosecutor, alleged serious malfeasance in his petition, including procurement breaches in the purchase of vehicles for the OSP and egregious abuses of power involving judges and the administration of justice, which he claimed warranted the removal of Mr. Agyebeng from office. But the Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo concluded that the petition lacked the necessary factual and legal foundation to warrant further investigation or action.
The outcome of the current petition is still uncertain, but it has fueled ongoing debate about the apparent push to remove the current Special Prosecutor. Sources indicate he has faced pressure to resign but has remained steadfast. Interestingly, his predecessor, the first to hold the position, resigned, citing “political interference in the independence of his office”, among other reasons.
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International in its 2023 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report said, “Ghana scored 43 out of a clean score of 100 and ranked 70th out of 180 countries and territories included in the Index, released on 30th January 2024. This marked the fourth consecutive year of stagnation in Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, as indicated by the CPI.”
Transparency International attributed Ghana’s stagnation to the deteriorating justice system, which it says is reducing the accountability of public officials and therefore allowing corruption to thrive. An effective OSP is therefore considered critical in the fight against corruption, which is prevalent in Ghana.
