Kwamena Duncan has jabbed the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin for describing the establishment of Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) as an “act in futility”.
The Speaker argued the passage of Act 959 which established the Special Prosecutor’s office doesn’t have the potency to combat corruption.
He said; “As for the law you passed on the Special Prosecutor, I did tell you that it was an act in futility. You were not going to achieve anything from that but you went ahead to pass it.”
To him, the antidote to corruption in Ghana is to separate the Attorney General (AG) from the Minister of Justice and provide funds for the AG to fight corruption.
“Well, I am very clear in mind that authority is embedded in the powers of the Attorney-General constitutionally,” he asserted.
Kwamena Duncan, in response to the Speaker on Wednesday edition of Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” morning show, described the latter’s comments as a “by-heart talk” stressing “this is a talk that shouldn’t come from Speaker of Parliament”.
Mr. Duncan contested the Speaker’s position on the Special Prosecutor Act, stating the Speaker played a crucial role in passing the Act and that if he had any issues with it, he should have made them clear before approving the Act.
“This is an Act of Parliament passed by Parliament that you are an integral part. If you had a dissenting opinion when the Act was presented, it doesn’t matter. The House has passed it; you don’t come back three, four, five years down the line to denigrate or derogate it. You don’t do that especially considering the seat you currently occupy as the Speaker”, he blasted Hon. Bagbin.
He also wondered why the Speaker would speak against the Special Prosecutor exclaiming that “your duty is to be able to oversee activities of the Executive and especially all other sectors of the economy and one of it which is a significant responsibility of Parliament is checking corruption, so anything and everything that will help to fight corruption; it must be your desire, your goal!”
Kwamena Duncan however hoped the Special Prosecutor would focus and execute his mission dutifully for all to see the significance of his office.
“OSP, I pray that this country will see the importance of that office,” he remarked.
