Deputy Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, says the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) should not exist as an independent institution but rather operate as a department under the Office of the Attorney-General.
Speaking on Prime Insight on Joy Prime on Saturday, December 6, during discussions on the arrest and detention of lawyer Martin Kpebu and the renewed calls for the scrapping of the OSP, Mr Kotoko said the structure of the Office was flawed from the beginning.
“I suggested over here the last time, and I want to reiterate further that the Office of the Special Prosecutor could even be created as a special unit or department under the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, and it will function.”
He argued that maintaining the OSP as an independent institution had become wasteful and ineffective.
“Now we are spending millions on somebody who is moving about with military men and trying to intimidate everybody,” he said.
Mr Kotoko added that fear among the public had also weakened open criticism of the OSP.
“The reason why many even fear talking about him now is that a lot of people feel they may have some cobwebs in their wardrobe. So they don’t want to go after Kissi Agyeben,” he said.
He insisted that the OSP is failing in its purpose and damaging public confidence.
“That is why I’m repeating here that Kissi Agyeben is a coward and what he is doing is tarnishing the image of the office,” he claimed.
Mr Kotoko said recent actions of the OSP, particularly the arrest of lawyer Martin Kpebu, confirmed long-standing concerns about the institution’s relevance.
“I support Parliament fully that we should scrap that office and I have maintained, because in the NDC for instance, it has been maintained that there was no need for that office.”
He said Mr Kpebu’s arrest was unacceptable and reflected poor judgment.
“What he did with Martin Kpebu was the last straw to break the camel’s back… one would have thought that he, being a lawyer, would have been wise enough to know that what happened there was a no-no,” he said.
Mr Kotoko said that the problem was not the concept of investigating political corruption, but the structure and leadership of the OSP.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor, I believe the problem is not with the office itself; it is the personality. However, my strongest view has been that – that should have been created as a department under the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General. Then they can perform those functions very well… but to have it on its own and dissipating the public like the way it is…,” he said.
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