10 petitioners ask President Mahama to remove Special Prosecutor and EC Chair

The Office of the President has received ten separate petitions calling for the removal of Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, and her two deputies, Eric Bossman Asare and Samuel Tettey.

Sources at the Presidency told Citi News that the petitions were submitted by private citizens who accuse the officials of different forms of misconduct.

In the petitions, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng is accused of incompetence and abuse of office. The Electoral Commission leadership is also being challenged over how the commission is being managed and concerns about accountability.

All the petitions have been forwarded to the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, who is expected to study them and decide on the next steps.

According to Section 16 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, Act 959, any petition to remove the Special Prosecutor must go through a formal process. The law says the President must send the petition to the Chief Justice within seven days. The Chief Justice then has 30 days to determine whether there is enough evidence to establish a prima facie case.

If a case is established, a three-member committee must be set up to investigate the matter. The committee will include a Supreme Court judge as chairperson, a lawyer with at least 15 years’ experience, and one person with investigative expertise. The committee then has 90 days to complete its work and present recommendations to the President. The President is required to act according to those recommendations.

Kissi Agyebeng has been the Special Prosecutor since 2021, taking over from the first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu. His time in office has been marked by mixed reactions. Some argue that the Office of the Special Prosecutor has brought more accountability to public institutions. However, others believe it has not been effective enough.

Several legal experts have criticized his performance. Lawyer Martin Kpebu recently accused Agyebeng of “extreme incompetence” for allowing former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to leave the country while under investigation. Another lawyer, Kweku Paintsil, has also questioned the OSP’s frequent media briefings, saying they amount to conducting trials in public rather than in court.

In 2023, an Accra High Court judge criticized the OSP for acting “as if it had appellate jurisdiction” over the court, describing the action as an abuse of power. Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has also called Agyebeng “unfit” for the office, especially regarding his comments on the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) case.

Meanwhile, the petitions against EC Chair Jean Mensa and her deputies focus on the management of the commission and call for stronger accountability.

The Chief Justice’s decision on whether the petitions have merit will determine the next steps in the removal process.