The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has once again called for an adequate funding for the execution of its mandate, lamenting that it is currently operating without a budget.

With the state attending to its funding needs, according to the OSP in its half year report ending June 2023, will place it better to fight and repress corruption and corruption-related activities.

According to the OSP, it is in the collective interest of all that the Office is funded and thus strengthened to carry out its functions.

“The Office continues to operate without an establishment budget. Nonetheless, the Office has proven that with sufficient funding, it is best placed to prevent and reduce the menace of corruption and corruption-related activities. We continue to emphasise the need for the State to pay particular attention to the funding needs of the Office. It is in our collective interest to build a resilient, independent, and technologically advanced Office of the Special Prosecutor to stay ahead of and effectively repress corruption and corruption-related actors.

The report highlights activities of the OSP between January 1 and June 30, 2023 and says 150 cases of corruption and corruption-related cases are being investigated.

The OSP which was established in 2018 “as the gold standard and flagship specialized independent anti-corruption institution in Ghana”, has been lamenting the lack of adequate funding for its activities.

The OSP in its latest report says it completed a substantial recruitment exercise for its initial establishment complement of staff during the period under review and expects successful applicants to take up their posts on or before October 31, 2023.

“These are exciting and promising times for the Office as we reckon that it is presently in its best shape since its advent in 2018 in the fulfilment of its mandate of investigating and prosecuting cases of corruption and corruption-related offences, recovering the proceeds of such offences and taking steps to prevent corruption. The Office continues its drive toward full establishment in all aspects notwithstanding immense budgetary challenges,” it said.

The present Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, his predecessor Martin ABK Amidu, and a number of Civil Society Organisations have all lamented the poor funding of the institution and could for improved budgetary allocations.