The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has rejected perceptions of a strained relationship with the Office of the Attorney-General, insisting that the two institutions maintain a strong working relationship.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has rejected perceptions of a strained relationship with the Office of the Attorney-General, insisting that the two institutions maintain a strong working relationship.
The Director of Strategy, Research and Communications at the OSP, Samuel Appiah Darko, made the clarification when he called into JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 29.
According to him, the OSP continues to collaborate effectively with relevant state institutions, particularly the Office of the Attorney-General, in carrying out its anti-corruption mandate.
Mr Appiah Darko said that although some members of the public may perceive recent developments as evidence of a clash between the OSP and the Attorney-General, that impression does not reflect the actual relationship between the two offices.
“The reason why I have called on the show is to talk about these things. First of all, the issue that the OSP is not collaborating with the AG, I think that it is a wrong perception,” he said.
“Is that not obvious from your press conferences?” the host of the show, Samson Lardy Anyenini, asked him.
He replied, “I know that people think that there is tension between the AG and the OSP. There could be tension, but you cannot also deny the OSP from also telling Ghanaians about some of the things that it is doing, and it wants to do. For instance, if the OSP needs to respond to some information that has already been put in the public domain that may not be accurate and the OSP clarifies that, that does not mean that the OSP is breeding a fight or tension.”
He maintained that the OSP enjoys cordial relations with its stakeholders and remains committed to the institutional cooperation required to investigate and prosecute corruption-related offences effectively.
His intervention followed concerns raised during the programme about what appeared to be inadequate collaboration between the OSP and the Attorney-General.
Mr Appiah Darko’s remarks sought to assure the public that the two institutions are working together despite differences that may arise in the performance of their respective statutory responsibilities.
In recent times, the two institutions have appeared to disagree over their respective roles in Ghana’s fight against corruption, particularly regarding the AKSA bribery allegations and the Abu Trica case. Their public statements have also created the impression of a dispute over which institution deserves credit for the progress made in the two cases.
