Mahama fully backs the OSP – Gov’t rejects secret plot claims

Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu has denied claims that the Mahama administration is secretly working to weaken or scrap the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

Speaking on PM Express on Monday, he insisted President John Mahama fully supports the anti-corruption office and had previously intervened to stop efforts to abolish it.

“Absolutely not,” the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP said when asked by host Evans Mensah whether there was a coordinated government plan to do away with the OSP.

According to him, the clearest proof of the President’s support came last year when a bill was tabled in Parliament by the Majority Leader and Majority Chief Whip seeking to scrap the office.

“The majority at the time had 189 members, and if they had been whipped in line, we would have just approved it, and that would have been the end of the matter,” he explained.

He said President Mahama personally stepped in and urged party leaders to allow the institution to continue operating.

“The president prevailed on the majority leader and the majority chief whip to give the special prosecutor a chance,” he stated.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu argued that recent legal battles involving the OSP were being wrongly interpreted as government attacks on the institution.https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ0w1zFoIfM?si=bVjPEl9xONwvR7hx

He explained that one court case involved an accused person challenging the Special Prosecutor’s authority to prosecute without the Attorney General’s approval under constitutional provisions.

“The court upheld his position,” he said, stressing that the judiciary had the constitutional authority to interpret the law.

“So, if the judiciary… sees that the special prosecutor is acting in violation of the constitution, that should be respected,” he noted.

He also addressed a separate case before the Supreme Court in which the Attorney General was asked to state the legal position on the powers of the OSP.

“The attorney general is bound to take the position of the law,” he said, insisting the AG could not act outside constitutional provisions.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu maintained that legal interpretations by the courts should not be twisted into allegations of political interference.

“It does not mean that government has anything against the special prosecutor,” he stressed.

According to him, President Mahama has publicly defended the OSP on several occasions despite concerns raised even within his own political party.

“The special prosecutor’s office has the president’s full and absolute backing to do what he has to,” he declared.

He, however, stressed that the office must operate within the limits of the Constitution, and any legal defects identified by the courts could later be corrected through constitutional reforms.

“We cannot say that if it is believed by the Supreme Court… that the special prosecutor’s office is existing unlawfully or acting unlawfully, then we should still allow it to operate. That would fly in the face of the rule of law,” he added.

Source: myjoyonline.com