The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has renewed calls for the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), insisting that the recent detention of private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu points to
constitutional flaws within the institution.

According to him, the Attorney General’s Office should be strengthened to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.

Contributing to discussions on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, December 4, 2025, he recounted the circumstances that led to Martin Kpebu's detention.

“Mr Speaker, it is obvious that that practitioner had publicly criticised the manner in which the Special Prosecutor was going about performing his functions. He was invited and I'm told that at the entrance to the Special Prosecutor, he sought to address the media which was objected to by the security detail at the office, and I think there was some altercation between him and the security responsible for the building that houses the Special Prosecutor," he stated.

Mahama Ayariga noted that the decision to detain Kpebu triggered widespread public reactions.

“Subsequently, it was ordered that he should be detained. It took the intervention of most Ghanaians on social media and people calling the Special Prosecutor and demanding that he should release the legal practitioner,” he said.

He further explained that he opposed the idea of the establishment of the OSP in Parliament from the onset.

“Mr Speaker, I recall vividly in this chamber when the proposal to establish the Office of Special Prosecutor was presented, I opposed it. I opposed it. The Hansard will bear me out because I took a position that it is unconstitutional to strip the Attorney General of the power to be responsible for the prosecution of criminal cases,” he argued.

He noted that Parliament struggled from the outset to align the institution with the 1992 Constitution.

“The fact that we had to struggle and nuance the whole process clearly betrays the fact that we knew we were doing something that didn't sit well with our constitutional architecture,” he added.

The Majority Leader also questioned the impact of the office after nearly eight years.

“Tell me what is really the achievement of that office. What has been the achievement of that office? I cannot see my way clear in terms of the achievement of that office,” he said.

Kpebu to drag OSP before Mahama

He maintained that corruption is fought with political will, not the creation of multiple institutions.

“Fighting corruption is not about littering the place with institutions. It is the political commitment of those who lead that fight corruption, not the designations of institutions that have been established,” he said.

Mahama Ayariga, thereby, urged Parliament to abolish the OSP, arguing that a strengthened Attorney General’s office would deliver better results.

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“I believe that it is high time that this Parliament reconsider its decision to approve the establishment of the Office of Special Prosecutor. I think that we should abolish it. I honestly think we should abolish it because we've experimented it and we cannot see any achievement.

“If the institution of Attorney General that we establish in our constitution is adequately resourced and protected by Parliament and held accountable by Parliament, I believe that that office will equally deliver,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, who was detained by the OSP on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, for allegedly obstructing an officer, has been released after almost five hours.

He described the arrest as unnecessary and insisted it reflected broader problems at the OSP.

According to him, “My arrest is a confirmation that Kissi Agyebeng is incompetent.”

Kpebu reaffirmed that he would petition President John Dramani Mahama to remove the Special Prosecutor.

“I will petition for his removal. I have 15 allegations against him,” he said.

The OSP has clarified that Martin Kpebu's arrest stemmed from a repeated pattern of confrontational behaviour toward security staff and not his accusations against
Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng.

JKB/AE

Meanwhile, watch some videos from the NPP's 2025 Constitution Amendment