Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu says the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) cannot conduct an impartial investigation into the AKSA bribery scandal because the office has lost public trust over its handling of the case.

Speaking on TV3's The KeyPoints on August 15, 2026, Kpebu argued that the OSP’s failure to adequately pursue or explain the Ghanaian component of the case has created a credibility problem, making it difficult for the public to trust the office to independently investigate the case.

Asante Berko: The banker at the centre of the AKSA bribery controversy

“Whilst he was assisting, what did he do about the Ghanaian component?” Kpebu asked.

He argued that assistance to US investigators did not, by itself, explain how the Ghanaian aspect of the allegations was handled.

According to him, the OSP had a responsibility to provide updates on matters it had investigated, and he questioned why the Asante Berko case did not feature more prominently in its updates.

Kpebu further alleged that the case had been suppressed under Kissi Agyebeng’s leadership.

“He suppressed the case. He was not reporting on the Asante Berko case until this matter came up, Kissi Agyebeng has lost our trust. It is a case that he has the mandate OSP, but because of the trust issues of Ofori-Atta, other cases,

"You cannot trust Kissi Agyebeng to do an impartial investigation... he was put there to do somebody's bidding," he alleged.

“Kissi Agyebeng has lost our trust. You cannot trust him to do an impartial investigation,” Kpebu stated.

Kpebu therefore called for the Attorney General to play a supervisory role in any further investigation, while the OSP supports the process.

He cited a Supreme Court decision which, according to him, recognises the Attorney-General’s supervisory role over the Special Prosecutor.

“The key thing is that once the Attorney General can supervise the Special Prosecutor, let [the appropriate authority] be fully involved in the investigations and then when the case is going to court, the Special Prosecutor can go as long as the Attorney General is supervising,” he said.

He argued that such an arrangement would help address concerns over the independence of the investigation and ensure that the matter receives proper scrutiny.

Kpebu also called for the details of the handling of the Ghanaian component to be made public.

“Bring it out,” he said, demanding clarity on who handled the case, what investigations were conducted and why further action was not pursued in Ghana.

The AKSA transaction has come under renewed scrutiny following developments in the United States involving the conviction of former Tema Oil Refinery Managing Director Asante Berko.

The OSP has said it assisted US authorities with the investigation.

JKB/VPO

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