-Despite “Saintly” Posture At Vetting
The Special Prosecutor nominee, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng who was vetted today claims he did not know anything about the scandalous Agyapa Royalties deal cooked by Finance Minister Ken Agyapong.
His Predecessor Martin A.B.K Amidu had angrily resigned from the office after he indicted President Akufo Addo and Ken Ofori-Atta for attempting to cover up the dubious underhand dealing underpinning the Agyapa deal.
“I was not involved in the deal and I was nowhere near it and indeed until it started coming out, I did not know what it was. For the record that is the truth,” Mr. Agyebeng told Parliament’s Appointment Committee on Thursday.
Asked whether he would not suffer the interference of the Office of the President, he said “the President has assured me of his full support and that is why I am sitting here. I will count on the President’s full support.”
Agyabeng’s assurances may have convinced a cross-section of the Ghanaian public, but it brings little succour to the other segment as Martin Amidu, who is currently in exile, pinned his resignation on President Akufo Addo attempting to persuade him to “shelve” a corruption assessment report he [Amidu] had done on the Agyapa deal.
In his parting shot, Amidu described President Akufo Addo as the “Mother Serpent” of corruption for his alleged attempt to sweep the dubious findings on the Agyapa deal under the carpet.
Even though Agyabeng claims he is his “own man” and can wear his “own shoes”, there are serious concerns that Agyabeng was practically handpicked by current Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame in collusion with the Jubilee House to serve as a stooge to cover up high profile corruption.
The 43-year-old law lecturer and practitioner is reportedly a close pal of Godfred Dame and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, President Akufo Addo’s controversial cousin who has been linked to most of the high-profile scandals in the current administration.
Besides his close links to the Jubilee House and the potential for that to compromise his independence as Ghana’s Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng has been described by a key member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a “defender of criminals”.
In 2019, the NPP Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong raised red flags about the character of Kissi Agyabeng, describing him as a“criminal” and one with a reputation for defending criminals.
“He [Kissi Agyabeng] is a foolish lawyer. Stupid…A lawyer who defends criminals. He defends any criminal on sight, it means he is a criminal,” Ken Agyapong fired in Twi during an interview granted him by Kofi TV.
Ken Agyapong was reacting to inferences made by Kissi Agyabeng at the time that the Assin Central MP may have had a hand in the assassination of investigative journalist, Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was investigating alleged corruption between the top echelon of the Jubilee House and the disgraced former President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwasi Nyantakyi.
Already, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have vowed to oppose Kissi Agyabeng’s appointment as the SP because of his close links to the Jubilee House and the scandalous Agyapa Royalties deal.
Also, Mr. Agyabeng is a personal lawyer to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko who forms the nucleus of powerful and close advisors to President Akufo Addo. In fact “Gabby” wields that much power that he is described as the de facto Prime Minister for his reported stranglehold on the President.
In 2020 when Gabby sued US-based Ghanaians journalist, Kevin Ekow Taylor, it was Agyabeng who represented him in court in the shambolic suit that got Mr. Taylor’s name spelled wrongly.
Meanwhile, Agyabeng may somehow be trying to extricate himself from all connections to the dubious Agyapa deal, but he cannot deny the fact that White and Case, the UK law firm that Ken Ofori-Atta dubiously used a front company to contract as main legal advisor for the Agyapa deal has a link to him.
Kissi Agyabeng is a partner at Cromwell Gray LLP and had in 2017 worked with White and Case.
According to CSOs and Martin Amidu, the Agyapa Royalty deal was surreptitiously set up to hijack more than US$2.5 billion of Ghana mineral royalties into the hands of a group of faceless investors linked to cronies of the Finance Minister and 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 noted when President Akufo Addo nominated him to head the Special Prosecutors Office.
To further complicate the stay of Mr. Agyabeng at the SPO office, he will have to deal with the raging turmoil and potential friction with the current Acting Special Prosecutor, Cynthia Lamptey who was asked to be a stand-in Martin Amidu after he resigned.
Whatsup News has learnt from reliable sources that Ms. Lamptey had earlier been approached by some individuals at the Jubilee House and had assured her that she will be confirmed as the substantive SP.
However, while this negotiation was ongoing, President Akufo Addo suddenly nominated Kissi Agyabeng.
In contrast to Agyabeng’s repertoire, Cynthia Lamptey is a more experienced legal practitioner who packs 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.
She 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, including 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.