Kissi Agyebeng, Ghana’s Special Prosecutor, is advocating for anti-corruption measures to be embedded in the country’s Constitution. He believes that the fight against corruption should focus on prevention rather than prosecution. Agyebeng emphasized that Ghana’s approach to corruption has been ineffective because it prioritizes punishing offenders rather than eliminating opportunities for corruption.

Speaking at the Constitution Day Public Lecture, Agyebeng stressed that preventing corruption is a better focus than pursuing it after the fact. He also pointed out that Ghana’s legal system allows corruption cases to drag on for years, making it difficult to secure convictions swiftly.

Agyebeng criticized the current legal framework, arguing that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was not given sufficient powers to focus on preventing corruption. He suggested that the OSP should be enshrined in the Constitution to give it more teeth in the fight against corruption.

The OSP was established in 2018 as a specialized independent anti-corruption institution in Ghana, in pursuance of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Agyebeng’s call for constitutional reforms aims to strengthen the OSP’s mandate and ensure a more effective approach to combating corruption in Ghana.