Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has declared what he describes as the “rebirth” of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), insisting that the institution has remained resilient despite sustained attacks and calls for its abolition.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, August 26, Mr Agyebeng said some of the attacks against the OSP were driven not by concerns about the institution’s performance but by personal dislike for its leadership.

“I state with extreme reluctance that some of the attacks intended at abolishing the OSP or dimming its light stem from personal dislike against the occupant of the seat of the Special Prosecutor and the Operational Directors,” he said.

According to him, there was no evidence that those targeted had engaged in any “obnoxious or untoward conduct” to justify attempts to weaken the institution.

He argued that calls to bring down a public institution established to fight corruption simply because some people preferred others to occupy leadership positions represented a dangerous approach to national development.

“To drive down a public institution set up to fight corruption and to actively call for its abolition out of personal dislike for the principal office holders, not arising from any unbecoming conduct but a preference for other persons to occupy such positions is the antithesis of development,” he said.

Mr Agyebeng said the OSP had repeatedly come under attack but had remained resolute.

“It is always the OSP. This is no way of building a nation. Through it all, the office has held high and been irrepressible and today I announce the rebirth of the OSP,” he declared.

The Special Prosecutor also pushed back against claims that the Office had failed to deliver results or was ineffective.

“To those who hold the view that the OSP has achieved nothing and that it should be scrapped, your claims are testable. To those who say the OSP is ineffective, your claims are testable,” he said.

He challenged critics to examine the OSP’s performance and compare it with other institutions, taking into account their respective mandates, years of establishment, resources, the complexity of cases and legal constraints.

“You are respectfully invited to check the statistics of our performance and benchmark them against your preferred institution, taking into account mandates, year of establishment, resources, complexity of cases, and legal constraints,” he said.

Mr Agyebeng maintained that a dispassionate assessment of the OSP’s record would show that the institution had performed creditably.

“If you do this dispassionately, it would occur to you that the OSP has performed creditably,” he said.

He added that the Office had consistently operated with transparency and had not hidden its work from public scrutiny.

“Our performance is neither shrouded in secrecy nor obscurity. We pride ourselves with openness,” he stated.