General News of 2026-09-03
Supreme Court did not strip OSP of its independent powers – Martin Amidu
In a fresh open letter, former Attorney-General and Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has said the Supreme Court’s judgment on the OSP did not take away the independent prosecutorial powers Parliament gave the Special Prosecutor under Act 959.
At the centre of his argument is the Attorney-General’s power to enter a nolle prosequi, which allows a prosecution to be discontinued.
Amidu said Parliament had already changed the law to recognise the Special Prosecutor as a separate prosecuting authority in corruption and corruption-related cases.
He pointed to Section 80 of Act 959, which amended provisions of the Economic and Organised Crime Office Act and the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act.
One of those changes allowed the words “or Special Prosecutor” to be inserted after “Attorney-General” in relevant provisions dealing with prosecution.
Another required the Special Prosecutor to give reasons when entering a nolle prosequi.
Amidu said Parliament had the constitutional power to make those changes.
“The powers of the Attorney-General under sections 54 and 55 of Act 30 are codifications of the common law prosecutorial discretion of the Attorney-General which are not subject to review by the courts,” he wrote.
“Parliament, however, retained the authority to amend or modify them through legislation as it did under section 80 of Act 959.”
His point is that the Attorney-General’s general constitutional powers should not be invoked to override the specific powers Parliament granted the Special Prosecutor under Act 959.
Amidu had warned before the Supreme Court judgment that if Section 80(2) of Act 959 was declared unconstitutional, it would affect important parts of the OSP’s independent prosecutorial powers.
After examining the judgment, however, he says that did not happen.
He therefore argues that the Court’s decision did not place the OSP under the unrestricted control of the Attorney-General.
Instead, he says the judgment preserved the legal structure Parliament created for the OSP.
