Parliament approves GH¢149 million for OSP

Parliament on Tuesday approved the sum of GH¢149 million for the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.

Madam Diana Asonaba Dapaah, the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, moved the Motion for the House to approve the Budgetary allocation for the OSP.

Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the Chairman for the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim Central, in seconding the Motion, said after carefully studying the budgetary estimates of the sector, the Committee was satisfied that the programmes outlined for the year would go a long way to strengthen the provisions of the Office.

Mr Bernard Ahiafor, the Ranking Member for the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Akatsi South, said corruption affected everybody, and therefore, the OSP needed the support of all Ghanaians to enable it to perform its function well.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, Deputy Minority Whip and NDC MP for Banda, lauded the OSP for its efforts in the fight against corruption. He further urged the Government to ensure that the OSP was adequately resourced to enable it to deliver on its mandate.

Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Deputy Majority Leader and New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Effutu, urged Ghanaians to encourage the Special Prosecutor to do his work.

He also appealed to the Special Prosecutor never to give up in his effort to combat corruption.

Meanwhile Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has recommended the decoupling of the Office of the Attorney-General from the Ministry of Justice as part of efforts to combat corruption in the country.

He said the functions of the Office of the Attorney-General and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) overlapped significantly, making the creation of the OSP an act in futility.

The Speaker made the suggestion in his remarks on the floor of Parliament during the House’s consideration of the “Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values, 2021”.

The object of the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2022″ is to provide for proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian Family Values proscribe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ ) and related activities.

Speaker Bagbin noted that the OSP’s authority overlapped significantly with that of the Attorney-General’s Office, thereby leading to a potential redundancy and inefficiencies.

“As for the law you passed on the establishment of 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. I disagreed with you, but I was alone,” Speaker Bagbin said.

This, he said, was because he was very clear that authority was embedded in the powers of the Attorney-General constitutionally. GNA

 

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