-To Decide Who His Staff Can Marry
Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has revealed that he is taking on additional responsibilities of assaying marriage partners for his staff in what critics view as an overzealous plan.
“If you are at the interview to work for the Special Prosecutor’s office and you have someone you intend to marry, you should make that known to us so that we can vet the individual. If we vet that fiance and realize he/she is a security risk, we will advise you that you have one of two choices with to leave the finance and work but if you still want to marry, you should go and marry,” He told Accra-based Joy FM.
“Whiles you are an employee and want to marry, you should inform me about the marriage that you want to marry so that I will vet the person. I will advise you after the vetting on whether or not you can marry the person. If you can’t abide and insist on getting married to the person then we will have no choice but to sack you,” he said.
It is not clear if this level of intrusion into the private lives of prospective staff will be acceptable by the constitution which provides for the right to human privacy.
And the Constitution also makes it clear that no person shall be discriminated against in the workplace on any grounds as a matter of occupational rights.
But a tough-talking Kissi Agyebeng says match-making is an important way to ensure that only persons without corruption risk get to work at the OSP.
Recently, the new OSP informed the Attorney General he needs to employ some 250 new staff to augment a deficient staff strength of only nine that he inherited from his predecessor, Martin Amidu.
And Kissi Agyebeng has been media hopping with grandiose speeches, including one in which he promised to use the fabled “Anas Principle” to do his work.
It is the same Anas Principle that President Akufo-Addo promised his government would use for investigation crime when he was in opposition. However, upon becoming President, Akufo-Addo completely abandoned the so-called Anas Principle as his family, friends and appointees are fingered as the key culprits in the unprecedented corruption scandals that have rocked his administration.
Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng is, meanwhile, no without blemish, as the governing party’s Member of Parliament (MP) Ken Agyapong, described him as a crooked lawyer who made his career out of defending criminals.
The neutrality of Kissi Agyabeng is also under question, given the fact that he is a close friend and lawyer for Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, President Akufo Addo’s notorious cousin, who has been linked to some of the major corruption scandals that had rocked the administration.
Critics think, Kissi Agyabeng is simply blowing hot and cold, but in fact, a puppet installed to shield corrupt acts in the Akufo Addo administration.
Agyabeng’s predecessor, Martin A.B.K Amidu had resigned under a tumultuous circumstance, where he accused President Akufo Addo as the “Mother Serpent” of corruption.
Amidu had investigated the scandalous Agyapa Royalty deal that reportedly sought to hijack Ghana’s entire mineral royalties to entities linked to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, another close relative of President Akufo Addo.
When he issued the damning corruption assessment report, revealing that Ofori-Atta had used questionable companies to front the deal for his private company, Databank Financial Services, Amidu revealed in series of explosive statements that President Akufo Addo had personally attempted to arm-twist him to “shelve” the report and allow the Agyapa deal to sail through.
Incidentally, Kissi Agyabeng has been a close associate of some of the entities that Ken Ofori-Atta used to front for his personal company. Kissi Agyabeng has worked as a legal consultant for UK-Based White and Case, the lead legal advisor selected by Ken Ofori-Atta for the Agyapa deal.