Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption, Edem Senanu, has strongly criticised moves by the Attorney-General’s Department to take over cases currently being prosecuted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), describing the development as “farcical” and legally unfounded.

His remarks follow comments by Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem-Sai, who indicated that the Attorney-General’s office will take steps to assume control of ongoing OSP prosecutions in compliance with a recent High Court ruling.

The directive stems from a legal challenge mounted by Peter Archibald Hyde, an accused person in a case linked to a rice importation scandal. His lawyers argued that the OSP lacks the authority to prosecute without prior authorisation from the Attorney-General, citing provisions in both the Constitution and the OSP Act.

However, speaking in an interview on Joy FM's Top Story on Thursday, Mr. Senanu rejected that interpretation, insisting that the High Court ruling has been misconstrued.

“That is comedy. It is farcical. How is the AG going to take over OSP cases? The interesting thing is that there were two High Court rulings yesterday. There was the criminal division, and then there was the general jurisdiction one.

"The criminal division said, 'let's wait for the Supreme Court'. The high court's general jurisdiction rules on the case before it, which is a rice import scandal. It has the capacity only to say prosecution in that specific case can stop.

"It cannot say because the issue before it was not an issue of the generality of the OSP prosecutorial power. So it cannot rule in that direction. The court cannot give a ruling that the cases should be handled over," he explained.

He argued that the Attorney-General therefore has “no basis” to rely on the ruling to justify taking over OSP cases, warning against what he described as misleading narratives.

Advising the Attorney-General, he called for restraint and respect for due process.
“The AG should slow down and allow our democratic processes to work. The Supreme Court is the right place to provide clarity on this matter,” he said.

Mr. Senanu cautioned that any attempt to assert control over the OSP’s prosecutorial powers risks undermining public confidence in the country’s anti-corruption framework.