The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) says the nomination of Kissi Agyebeng as Special Prosecutor comes as no surprise to President Akufo-Addo.

Speaking on Newsfile, Saturday, Mr. Sulemana Braimah opined that the President would have been informed by Attorney-General Godfred Dame of his decision to nominate Mr. Agyebeng to succeed former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu.

According to him, Godfred Dame cannot nominate someone unapproved by the President following the ability of the President to reshuffle or dismiss an Attorney-General.

“If the Attorney-General can be controlled or can be fired and works at the pleasure of the President, then would you really need someone... We do know for example by law that the AG is supposed to nominate the person, the President would have to accept and then transmit it to Parliament to get approval.

“But the reality we know is that there is no way the AG would have done the nomination without consulting the President. I don't think if President Akufo-Addo was not comfortable with Kissi Agyebeng, Attorney-General Godfred Dame would have done that,” he told Samson Lardy Anyenini.

He further noted that it would be expected for the incumbent government to appoint someone they can trust or is affiliated to the New Patriotic Party and not the opposition NDC.

On the competence and age of Kissi Agyebeng which has been a major concern for members in the Minority, Mr Braimah explained that the nominee’s age is not a significant factor to look at with regards to his approval.

“He is a fine person, I think he is a very intelligent and smart guy. No, I don’t think he is too young.” he added.

He, however, admitted that Mr Agyebeng is lagging in terms of experience.

“What is the track record of Kissi Agyebeng when it comes to anti-corruption and fighting corruption? Do we have any knowledge, any experience of Mr Kissi Agyebeng being in the trenches of the anti-corruption struggles in this country and my answer will be no.

"In terms of the word qualification, I won't take that away from him but we have to look at whether or not his track record in the anti-corruption struggle merits him such position," he stated.

His comments follow some displeasure registered by some state personalities including Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, former MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, and the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu that the nominee is too young and inexperienced to head the Office of Special Prosecutor.

“Did the President search well enough and not found a worthy replacement for Martin Amidu other than Kissi Agyebeng? Why did the President settle on Agyebeng, when Agyebeng after seven years will be around 50 years?

“As a lawyer and former MP, my only concern is his age,” Mr Fuseini said.

On his part, Martin Amidu said Mr Agyebeng’s nomination is meant to hinder a thorough look into the controversial Agyapa Royalties Transaction corruption risk assessment report he carried out.