Relax and enjoy your salary – Prof H. Prempeh to OSP after court strips power

Legal scholar Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh has urged the Special Prosecutor to remain calm and avoid contesting a High Court ruling limiting the office’s prosecutorial powers.

Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh made the remarks in a Facebook post shortly after news broke of the court decision, sharing a photo of the Special Prosecutor.

“Mr. Special Prosecutor, please don’t appeal, and don’t resign; don’t! Don’t even fight it in the media,” he wrote.

He further advised the office to stay focused on its administrative mandate rather than engaging in legal battles over the ruling.

“You and your staff should just sit tight and collect your pay and perks and spend your budget as planned, ok. That, too, counts as public service in Ghana,” he added.

Prof. Prempeh also cautioned against overreacting to the situation, suggesting a measured response.

“Don’t kill yaself over this! Country broke or no broke, we all dey inside,” he stated.

His comments follow a ruling by the General Jurisdiction Division of the High Court in Accra, which directed the Attorney-General to immediately take over all criminal prosecutions being handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) until proper authorization is secured.

The court further declared that prosecutions initiated by the OSP without such authorization are null and void, effectively halting several ongoing cases across different courts. It also awarded costs of GH₵15,000 against the OSP.

The ruling arose from a case involving four individuals under investigation by the OSP, including Alhaji Seidu of the National Insurance Commission, former Vice President’s Office director James Keck Osei, and Customs officers John Abban and Peter Archibold Hyde.

They are accused of conspiring to seize containers using forged documents and a falsified letter purportedly from the Office of the Vice President. Peter Archibold Hyde subsequently filed a judicial review application challenging the OSP’s decision to prosecute.

In its decision, the court held that while the OSP has the authority to investigate corruption-related offences, it lacks the power to initiate prosecutions independently without prior approval from the Attorney-General.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor has, however, indicated its intention to challenge the ruling, arguing that it conflicts with an earlier High Court decision which deferred a similar matter pending a Supreme Court determination on the issue.

Prof. Prempeh, who recently chaired the Constitutional Review Committee established in January 2025 to review the 1992 Constitution, was part of a team that submitted its report to President John Dramani Mahama late last year.