The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has proposed a significant realignment of Ghana’s anti-corruption architecture, advocating for the full transfer of the anti-corruption mandate of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to the OSP.
This move, according to the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, is part of a broader call for constitutional and structural reform aimed at streamlining the country’s fight against corruption.
Speaking during a recent stakeholder engagement on the constitutional review process, Kissi Agyebeng emphasized that while CHRAJ has historically played a role in anti-corruption efforts, its current remit is fragmented and no longer fit-for-purpose in an era where the OSP exists as a specialized anti-corruption agency with prosecutorial powers.
“At the time the Constitution was drafted, and even when NACAP (National Anti-Corruption Action Plan) was instituted in 2014, the OSP did not exist. But since its establishment in 2017 partly to fulfill Ghana’s obligations under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption the OSP has emerged as the lead institution in the anti-corruption space,” Agyebeng stated.
He revealed that while CHRAJ continues to handle some aspects of anti-corruption, its interventions cover only “about 10%” of the full anti-corruption spectrum. Once CHRAJ completes preliminary work, cases often transition to the OSP for further investigation and prosecution, creating a functional overlap that he believes can be eliminated through reform.
Agyebeng endorsed a proposed structural model in which CHRAJ would focus exclusively on its other core mandates, thus human rights protection and administrative justice.
The proposal, if adopted, could form a key pillar of the ongoing constitutional review process aimed at consolidating Ghana’s anti-corruption framework.
Business leaders, legal practitioners, and civil society actors are expected to weigh in on the proposal in the coming weeks as part of broader consultations on institutional reform.
