Only constitutional overhaul can fix OSPs challenges-Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh

Ghana must undertake a full-scale constitutional review if it wants to resolve the recurring problems around the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh, has said.

He warned that the current disputes surrounding the institution cannot be fixed with piecemeal reforms or one-off legal victories, and that without deeper change the OSP risks sliding into irrelevance.

Speaking on Monday, 8 December, Prof Prempeh argued that the challenges confronting the OSP are rooted in the way Ghana’s anti-corruption system is structured, rather than in day-to-day administrative decisions.

“The problem we’re facing now calls for a constitutional solution. Basically, that is how we can resolve this impasse,” he said, adding that attempts to “patch” the framework through minor adjustments or extended court battles would only postpone a more fundamental breakdown.

He suggested that rebuilding the institution on a renewed, clearer constitutional and legal foundation would provide a more durable solution than trying to “renovate around the problem”. Other countries, he noted, have successfully redesigned their anti-corruption architecture, and Ghana is equally capable of doing so.