Turmoil At Special Prosecutor Office -As Akufo Addo Appoints Gabby’s Boy As SP

Serious turmoil has engulfed the Special Prosecutor’s Office as President Akufo Addo appoints a known loyalist to office meant to independently chase political and public corruption.

Apparently, no official communication has been relayed to the Acting Special Prosecutor, Cynthia Lamptey who was asked to be a stand-in Special Prosecutor (SP) when her boss and former SP, Martin Amidu unceremoniously resigned after jabbing President Akufo Addo for being corrupt and interfering in the job of the independent SP in fighting corruption.

Whatsup News has learnt from reliable sources to have been approached by some individuals at the Jubilee House assuring her that she will be confirmed as the substantive SP. 

However, while this negotiation with Cynthia Lamptey was ongoing, President Akufo Addo suddenly appointed Lawyer Kissi Agyabeng as substantive SP, leaving Cynthia Lamptey in the cold. 

The new Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame on April 16, 2021, written to President Akufo Addo to jointly select Kissi Agyabeng as the next SP. Even though the Attorney General is clothed with the power to nominate an eligible candidate for the position for the President to appoint, the appointment is subject to the approval of a majority of all Members of Parliament. 

Curiously, Mr. Agyabeng is intrinsically linked to the Jubilee House where he is the personal lawyer to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, President Akufo Addo’s powerful cousin and Chief Advisor.

Indeed, it was Mr. Agyabeng who represented Mr. Otchere-Darko in 2020 when he sued US-based Ghanaians journalist, Kevin Ekow Taylor. Also, Agyabeng is somehow linked to the scandalous Agyapa Royalties deal that led to the resignation of Martin Amidu when he accused President Akufo Addo as the “Mother Serpent of Corruption” behind the shady Agyapa Deal.

Kissi Agyabeng is a partner at Cromwell Gray LLP and had in 2017 worked with White and Case, the London-based law firm that was virtually hand-picked by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko to serve as legal advisors to the scandalous Agyapa Royalty deal that was surreptitiously set up to hijack more than US$2.5 billion of Ghana mineral royalties futures value into the hands of a group of faceless investors linked to cronies at the Finance Ministries and the Jubilee House.

Already, a cross-section of the Ghanaian public has raised eyebrows at the new SP nomination. particularly given his close links with the Jubilee House.

“Mr. Agyabeng is a fine lawyer. But if he wants to be SP as reported then he must COMMIT to recuse himself from ALL Agyapa matters. Given his close links to White & Case & ALA (run by Agyapa supporter, Mr. Ochere-Darko), else CSOs will oppose his appointment,” warned Bright Simmons, a founding member of the policy think-tank IMANI.

Critics have said the Akufo Administration is attempting to appoint a Special Prosecutor loyal to the Presidency and potentially going to be impotent in going after corrupt acts of a government that is already ranking as one of the most corrupt in the history of the country’s democracy.

Kissi Agyaben is a 42-year-old whom critics have said he is not qualified to fit in the big shoes of the exited Martin Amidu. 

He was born in 1978 and attended the Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York and has since held several interesting positions, including the Chairman of the Electronic Communications Tribunal, Ghana (Since 2019), Vice Chairman, Appeals Committee, Ghana Football Association (2017 – 2018) Associate – African Center for Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Prevention (Since 2010) National Coordinator – Commonwealth Moot Court Competition on International Criminal Justice (Since 2017) Former Editor, Ghana Monthly Judgments (2008-2009), among others. 

In comparison, however, Cynthia Lamptey who is being edged out from becoming the substantive SP, is a more experienced legal luminary who has a demonstrable track record in going after high-profile corruption cases since her employment as a state attorney at the Attorney-General’s Department in 1995 and rose through the ranks till she was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions during the John Mahama administration. As the country’s chief prosecutor, she handled several high-profile prosecutions. Some of her prosecutions include the case of the alleged stealing of GHC 86.9 million by an Executive Director of the National Service Scheme and the criminal prosecution of Alfred Agbesi Woyome in the controversial GHC 52 million cedis judgment debt saga.