Special Prosecutor role too risky for ‘young’ Kissi Agyebeng – Inusah Fuseini

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, former MP for Tamale Central has described the Special Prosecutor (SP) nominee as someone too young for a risky job to fight corruption.

According to him, the Office of the Special Prosecutor needs an individual who is well advanced in life and can resist any form of temptation due to how complicated the fight against corruption is in Ghana.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame announced Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng has been nominated as the Special Prosecutor, subject to the approval of Parliament.

Should he be approved by the President, Mr Agyebeng will become Ghana’s second Special Prosecutor after Martin Amidu resigned citing executive interference in his work.

Per section 13 (8) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), when the position of the SP becomes vacant, the President shall, within six months, appoint another qualified person for that portfolio.

Reacting to the choice of Kissi Agyebeng as the SP on Adom FM, the legal practitioner explained, “The Special Prosecutor’s position which is a risky job needs someone who is further advanced in life to resist any form of temptations due to how complicated the fight against corruption is.”

Fuseini questioned, “Did the president search well enough and not found a worthy replacement for Martin Amidu other than Kissi Agyebeng? Why did the president settle on Agyebeng, when Agyebeng after seven years will be around 50 years?”

“As a lawyer and former MP, my only concern is his age. I am just worried. Is the president meaning well? Will he try to interfere in the performance of the duty of Agyebeng?” the former Minority Spokesperson on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament asked further.

He continued: “The Special Prosecutor should be in the same age bracket with the president or older than the president. There should be some kind of mutual respect between the president and the Special Prosecutor.

“The Special Prosecutor should perform his duty without fear nor favour. He is coming to fight against corruption and corruption-related offences, breaches of the Procurement Act and it can go both ways, it can be against the government and it can be against the other members of the public, so if he is too young like in the case of [Agyebeng], he is just about 43 years [born on 1978].”

“The problem is the age difference between him and the president. Will it manifest in the president trying to control him, because he can be a child of the president, so that’s my concern,” Inusah Fuseini lamented.

He further indicated that the relationship between the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame and Kissi Agyebeng may create a possible conflict when it comes to investigations and prosecutions.

Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng is the Chairman of the Electronic Communications Tribunal – the body which determines appeals from parties aggrieved by decisions of the National Communications Authority (NCA) on issues such as the closure of radio stations – and one of the best-known lawyers in the country.

He is also the Managing Partner of Cromwell Gray LLP, a law firm based in Accra.