Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has expressed serious doubts about the credibility of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), citing inconsistencies in the institution’s public statements and timelines.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, December 6, during discussions on calls to scrap the OSP, Mr Awuni said his personal interactions and findings raised concerns about the reliability of the office’s claims.

“It is difficult to believe this office… it is difficult at this moment to just believe everything that they say,” he stated.

Awuni explained that his scepticism stemmed from conflicting information provided by the OSP, particularly regarding its probe into Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML). He recalled that officials from the OSP contacted him earlier this year about his petition.

“Officials of that office reached out to me on the 29th of January 2025 and the call was the fact that: you petition our office to begin investigating SML, we are about to start the investigation and we think it is proper that we understand the petition.”

He said the officials requested further information and held a meeting on 31 January, followed by an email on 6 February asking him to provide additional documents “for the preparatory process for the investigation.”

Mr Awuni added that the nature of the OSP’s requests convinced him that no serious work had yet begun.

“When I saw the nature of the evidence… none of the people who were major targets in the investigation was involved.”

He said he had also seen an internal OSP “diary of action,” which indicated that the office had documented the case earlier than it publicly claimed.

“The first entry on that diary of action… was entered on the 29th of January 2025 at 12:40 p.m.”

Awuni argued that the OSP should have identified all key persons of interest at the preliminary stage.

“This diary from the OSP shows that the persons of interest are identified at the preliminary stages of the investigation.”

He added that the office’s failure to include some individuals mentioned in his documentary suggested that it had not carried out necessary preliminary checks.

Mr Awuni also challenged the OSP’s claim that it had saved the state US$2.7 billion in the SML matter.

“The last time Sammy Darko spoke on your show, he said the office had saved $2.7 billion that would have been paid to SML. $2.7 billion translates into GH₵30 billion.”

He explained that the contract sum he uncovered did not support that figure.

“I spoke to the Special Prosecutor himself, Kissi Agyaben… and I told him that the entire contract sum for the SML, the five-year contract, was $500 million, a little over $500 million. So where did you get this $2.7 billion from?”

Mr Awuni said the PPA letter he obtained did not contain such an amount.

“In my investigation, I had a PPA letter, and the letter did not in any place state the $2.7 billion that Kissi Agyaben claimed.”

He noted that the OSP later adjusted its figures to match the amount he had published.

“If you go to the OSP's website now, they have come back to the same figure, the $500 million that I mentioned earlier.”

Mr Awuni concluded that these discrepancies justified growing public doubts about the office.

“If an office of this nature is coming up with information, it is difficult at this moment to just believe everything that they say.”