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Proposed Special Prosecutor unconstitutional – Atuguba

The Special Prosecutor’s bill, which is set to be laid for consideration in parliament, Dr Atuguba said, cannot be independent of the Attorney General as it is being proposed because it violets article 88 of the 1992 constitution.

Speaking at a forum organized by the Centre for Social Democracy (CSD-Ghana) in partnership with the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana with support from Friedrich Ebert Foundation last Wednesday, Dr Atuguba said the office will not pass master in the Supreme Court.

“Under our current constitutional dispensation, no prosecutor in Ghana can be legally independent. Again, under our current constitutional dispensation, no prosecutor can be legally special,” he said.

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“Any attempt to pass a law that establishes the Office of the Prosecutor that purports to be special or independent does not only do violent to Article 88 of the constitution but will not pass constitutional master in the Supreme Court.”

The legal expert also bashed parliament, saying it was allowing the Executive to take the country on the wrong path as the nation sought to right the wrongs of corruption.

Parliament, he said, must be bold to tell the Executive that wasting money and time on backing a bill that will be dead on arrival amounted to causing financial loss to the state.

To him, “Every prosecutor in Ghana is within the meaning of Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution under the prosecutorial discretion, direction and control of the Attorney General.

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“Such a prosecutor is dependent on the Attorney-General and can never be independent,” he further said.

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