Kissi Agyebeng said initially, he was reluctant to accept the offer to become the Special Prosecutor.
The Special Prosecutor noted that he never asked or lobbied for the position like others did.
According to him, the position was laid on his head.
“I am a reluctant occupier of the position of the Special Prosecutor – in the sense that I neither asked for nor lobbied for it. I am not inclined to recount how I got to sit in this seat, except to say that the position was laid on my head,” he stated.
Delivering a speech at the One Ghana Movement’s Annual Constitutional Day Lecture in Accra on Friday, February 28 Kissi Agyebeng indicated that accepting the job required a lot of personal sacrifices due to his desire to make Ghana a better place for all.
“Sacrificially, I eventually accepted the position. I allude to sacrifice because the acceptance of the job required me to drastically change my lifestyle and my life as I knew it. Not that I was engaged in some opprobrious vocation or habit. Not in the least. But that I was fun loving and the outdoorsy reveling type. I was also an elite walker. I cannot do anymore most of the things which bore a meaning to life in my estimation. That is one aspect of the sacrifice – purely private quests, you would say,” he stressed.
The Special Prosecutor indicated that despite his sacrifice to help fight corruption, Ghanaians appear not ready to make the same sacrifice.
He stressed that Ghanaians want corruption to be fought, but every indication shows that they do not want to fight corruption due to the constant pushback and attacks.
The graft fighter said his security is constantly at risk due to numerous attacks on him, some of which go beyond verbal threats to actual attempts to take his life.
“The pushback is reflected in so many forms, including the sponsorship of attacks and vile publications against the Special Prosecutor.
“Sadly, some of the enemies the job attracts would not hesitate to take a life should opportunity present itself. Thus, my security risk is ultra-high. Same applies to especially the operational officers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor,” he noted.
Mr. Agyebeng further revealed that his relentless efforts to fight corruption earn him new enemies every day.
“The other aspect of the sacrifice is impersonal. This is that the position of the Special Prosecutor is a very thankless job. It fetches you droves of enemies daily, and it brings you into frontal contact with the lowest forms of debasement in humans,” he remarked.
The Special Prosecutor said there is a glimmer of hope amid all the challenges.
According to him, his Office (OSP) must be carefully weaved into the ongoing constitutional review process for the independence to fight corruption at all levels.
To ensure the independence and protection of the OSP from political interference, Mr. Agyabeng strongly indicated that the inclusion of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in the constitution will stand the test of time.
Mr. Agyebeng noted that the battle against corruption must be given strong legal backing to make corruption a high-risk and costly venture.
“We must write the Office of the Special Prosecutor into the constitution and firm it up,” he noted. “Do not dwell on me. My tenure will end at some point and like everyone else, I will leave the scene. The focus should be on building institutions that stand the test of time.”
He further proposed several measures, including introducing anti-corruption studies into school curricula and establishing specialised anti-corruption courts to fight corruption ruthlessly.
