On Tuesday, July 12, an Accra High Court dismissed a request by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, to grant him the mandate to freeze assets of the late CEO of Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John.

Mr Agyebeng froze the assets as part of investigations the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) commenced into the acquisition of state lands and properties that were contained in Mr Afriyie’s Will.

Section 54 of the OSP Act enables the Special Prosecutor to apply to the Court for a confiscation order in respect of tainted property if the person from whom the property was seized is on trial for corruption or a corruption-related offence or is convicted of corruption or a corruption-related offence but dies or absconds.

The Court in dismissing the request pointed out that this procedure should have been used by Mr Agyebeng’s office.

The Special Prosecutor, however, disagreed and has served notice of challenging this position at the Court of Appeal.

Find the court's ruling below: