Think tank, IMANI Africa, has said it is not surprising that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has not made any prosecution since its creation.

President of the think tank, Franklin Cudjoe, said despite interventions to deal with the OSP’s hum and logistical resource constraint, the anti-graft body still faces resource challenges.

He said because of the technical nature of the cases Martin Amidu’s outfit is supposed to investigate, the current challenges pose a major impediment.

Speaking on Adom FM’s current affairs show Burning Issues on Monday, May 13, 2019, Mr Cudjoe explained that  cases that the OSP is mandated to look into can take between three and five years to complete since “the people involved have big pockets who will fight him [Martin Amidu] at all levels.”

“Even though we gave him 18 months to do his first successful prosecution, looking at his human resource and nature of cases, he cannot prosecute high-level cases in less than two years without facing opposition,” he added.

Mr Cudjoe’s comments come on the back of an assessment of the OSP by Corruption Watch and Accountable Democratic Institutions and System Strengthening (ADISS) a year after the office was created.

Franklin Cudjoe said the OSP “needs not less than 25 committed investigators who should be well resourced such that no person can lure them just as it happened in Brazil” leading to the incarceration of even a former president.

The Founder of the policy think tank indicated he will “congratulate the Special Prosecutor if he resigns from his office because it wouldn’t be too late,” looking at the inadequate resources at his disposal to deliver.

 “If you really want to fight high profile corruption, block all the procurement leakages that breed corruption because the big men involved in these cases are the ones in government who will be fighting the OSP throughout their lifetime in office. The best is to stop it from happening,” he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Magnus Kofi Amoatey, speaking on the same show, said he is “disappointed in the OSP because, before the approval of his budget, he said he has started a lot of things even though he hasn’t got the full complement of what he needs on the cases.”

Emmanuel Marfo, also a Member of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee also said on the show that he is surprised to hear people expressing disappointment in the OSP.