Office of the Special Prosecutor

Summary

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was established by Act 959 (assented 2 January 2018) as an independent anti-corruption agency with authority to investigate and prosecute corruption and corruption-related offences committed by any public officer — explicitly including police and security service personnel — as well as politically exposed persons and private-sector actors. The Special Prosecutor is nominated by the Attorney-General and appointed by the President with approval of a majority of all members of Parliament; the non-renewable term is seven years. Removal requires stated misbehaviour, incompetence, or incapacity determined by a Chief Justice-convened committee (s.15). The OSP operates independently of executive direction (s.4) and is funded through Parliament-approved moneys (s.22). Its governing Board (s.5) includes the Special Prosecutor, Deputy Special Prosecutor, representatives of the Audit Service, Ghana Police Service, EOCO, Financial Intelligence Centre, CHRAJ, National Security intelligence, and one female civil-society representative from anti-corruption organisations — a mixed body without a civilian majority requirement. The OSP holds full investigative powers: it may require information in writing (s.29), obtain court-backed production orders (s.30), and execute search warrants to seize documents (s.31). Authorised OSP officers exercise statutory police powers (s.28). The OSP does not issue internal disciplinary sanctions against police agencies; its role is criminal investigation and prosecution. It publishes a half-yearly statistical report of cases and outcomes (s.3(3)) and an annual report to Parliament (s.26).