A researcher at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, Oliver Barker-Vormawor says the argument that Kissi Agyebeng is not old enough to occupy the Office of Special Prosecutor is absurd.
Speaking to Samson Lardy Anyenini on JoyNews' Newsfile Saturday, the researcher stated that if the issue of age was compelling enough, then Parliament would have found it wise to express it in the law.
According to him, Mr Agyebeng can only be dismissed if he has less than 12 years of experience at the bar.
“If we take the age issue as a stand-alone issue and if it is proposed as a stand-alone criterion, then it's surely absurd and incomprehensible in my view unless someone can show us that his age is connected to an eligibility issue,” he said.
His statement comes on the back of a comment made by former MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, that the Attorney-General’s nominee for the Special Prosecutor position is too young to fight against corruption.
According to Inusah Fuseini, prior to the drafting of the law that governs the Office of the Special Prosecutor, a team of MPs visited countries that had such an institution in place.
He said, all those that occupied the office were advanced in age and had a certain pedigree, something Kissi Agyabeng lacked.
But disputing this stance, the Executive Director for Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah said age cannot be used as a factor to object to his nomination.
He argued that age is just a number since many influential persons including former President Barak Obama was relatively young when he was elected as President of the United States of America.
"The president could have been 40-years-old. We had Obama who cannot be described as a person who was too old but led the most powerful country and served as the commander-in-chief of the most powerful armed forces or army in the world.
"The issue of age for me is not a problem. 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 stated.
Mr. Kissi Agyebeng was nominated to occupy the office of the Special Prosecutor by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Godfred Dame in a letter to the President on April 16, 2021.
The nominee has been a lecturer since October 2006, teaching and researching into Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Corporate Law and Legal Research and Writing.
He was awarded the Bentsi-Enchill Prize for Best Graduating Student of the University of Ghana School of Law in 2001 and was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2003, earning the E.N. Sowah Memorial Prize for Best Student in Family Law.
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