The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has recently come under heavy public scrutiny, with some prominent Ghanaians calling for the anti-corruption institution to be scrapped, arguing is increasingly becoming a wasteful venture.
It is emerging that the OSP, which many Ghanaians are agitating due to its failure to arrest and prosecute former government appointees alleged to have been involved in serious corruption and corruption-related offenses, has been allocated GHc158m in the 2026 Budget.
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The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Gbagbin, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, and many other Parliamentarians have also joined calls today for the abolition of the institution following its arrest and detention of private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, yesterday, over an allegation of obstruction of investigation, a charge many lawyers stated falls outside the laws that established it.
The OSP was established in 2018 by then-President Akufo-Addo and appointed Martin Amidu, a member of the NDC and former Attorney General, as the first Special Prosecutor. He later resigned in 2020, accusing the president of interfering in his work.
Mr. Kissi Agyebeng was then appointed in 2021 and has since been in office.
The budgetary allocation to Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor from 2018 to 2025:
| Year | Budgetary allocation (GH¢) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 3,791,214.00. Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2019 | 180,160,225.00 (Approved 2019 figure). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2020 | 138,146,482.40 (Revised/2020 figure shown in PBB). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2021 | 124,103,085.00 (Approved allocation for 2021). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2022 | 138,852,800.00 (Revised total budget for 2022). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2023 | Initial GH¢129,549,380.00 (revised to GH¢149,549,380.00 including extra support). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2024 | GH¢149,005,669.00 (approved/allotted for 2024; releases and utilization also reported). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
| 2025 | GH¢149,005,669.00 (approved total shown in the 2025 PBB; budget performance table included). Ministry of Finance Ghana |
Many Ghanaians said that despite these huge sums of resource allocations, the Office has little to show and it should be scrapped.
