…Confused Minority Leader hints
The New Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, who was nominated by Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, as a replacement for his resigned predecessor, Martin Alamisi Amidu, has been sworn in amidst a lingering doubt about his ability to be independent.
And the latest aspersion against the credibility of the 43-year-old Special Prosecutor came from Minority Leader, Hon. Haruna Iddrissu whose colleagues from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament had unanimously approved Agyabeng’s nomination. He is now claiming he has doubts that Agyebeng would be independent.
It is unclear if this view is personal or is shared by him and his colleagues in the legislative chamber. If they have a common opinion about the credibility of Agyabeng, it begs to question why they overwhelmingly approved him.
According to Iddrissu, President Akufo-Addo’s refusal of the advice of the US Embassy for the Special Prosecutor position to be contested takes away the confidence he has in Agyabeng, a man known to be a close pal of President Akufo-Addo’s notorious cousin, Gabby Otchere Darko and Attorney General, Godfred Dame.
Dame’s nomination of Agyebeng to replace Amidu who resigned as first SP in 2020 following him accusing President Akufo-Addo of attempted to make him shelve a damning corruption assessment report on the dubious Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal, sprang Amidu from his life of quiet after a tempestuous resignation.
Amidu became disquiet because according to him, Agyebeng had been shipped in by Gabby and Dame so he can be a stooge who will also be conspiratorial in the Akufo-Addo government’s foreseeable attempts to whitewash the dirt in the Agyapa deal.
Amidu would also reveal that Agyebeng was actually a member of the cabal that cooked the Agyapa dirty deal in the first place.
However, the young lawyer has since refuted his involvement in the Agyapa deal. He has however not quite managed to brush off the fact that he has been pals with Gabby and Dame, his nominator, from as far back as their university days.
According to the Minority Leader, Agyebeng cannot be trusted to live up to the high standards of impartiality that the SPO requires.
Meanwhile, the Ghanaian Parliament on Friday, July 29, 2021, approved Mr. Agyebeng unanimously after a report of Parliament’s Appointment Committee recommended same.
“The committee has duly recommended the nomination of the President for the appointment of the Special Prosecutor in line with Section 13 (3) and (8) of the Special Prosecutor Act 2017 and the standing orders of parliament and recommends the nominee Mr. Kissi Agyebeng to the House for approval,” the report read.
Kissi Agyebeng appeared before Parliament’s Appointment Committee on Thursday, July 22 for vetting. The Committee recommended him to the House for approval, in less than an hour after a three-hour vetting. His recommendation was approved by consensus, rendering moot any criticism that will be uttered by the Minority side of Parliament.