Ken Kuranchie petitions Akufo-Addo to dismiss Special Prosecutor over ‘Misconduct and security risks’
Kenneth Kwabena Agyei Kuranchie, the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Searchlight, has officially asked President Nana Akufo-Addo to fire Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng.
He accuses him of grave misconduct, including breaking his oaths of office and confidentiality.
Kuranchie said in a letter dated October 18, 2024, that Agyebeng’s acts satisfy the requirements for removal specified in Section 15.(1) of the Special Prosecutor Act (Act 959), which lists the circumstances in which the Special Prosecutor may be fired.
“Petitioner presents this petition for the removal of the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, on the authority of Section 15. (1) of the Special Prosecutor Act, (Act 959) of 2017,” he said, citing the Act. He noted that “stated misbehavior, incompetence, incapacity…willful violation of the Official Oath and Oath of Secrecy” are among the grounds for removal.
According to Kuranchie, Agyebeng approved polygraph examinations for 80% of the Office’s employees, not through Ghana’s National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) but through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.
“Petitioner states, first, that this work was not done by the N.I.B, and second, this work was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), an agency of the government of the United States of America, a foreign nation,” Mr Kuranchie asserted.
“These acts amount to willful violation of the Official Oath and Oath of Secrecy; and are prejudicial or inimical to the economy or security of the State,” he argues, arguing that this is “stated misbehavior” and a violation of the Data Protection Act.
Kuranchie has called on the president to act, emphasizing that these purported violations render Agyebeng unsuitable for office in accordance with Section 15.(1)(a) of Act 959. Since then, President Akufo-Addo has sent the petition to the Chief Justice for an initial evaluation.
This appeal comes after the Supreme Court dismissed Kuranchie’s complaint in July 2024, which aimed to declare the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) unconstitutional.
In that case, the Attorney General and the OSP were accused of violating multiple articles of the 1992 Constitution by the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (ACT 957).
Kuranchie just filed a new petition calling for a constitutional review of the OSP’s mandate, despite having already dropped a similar complaint last year.
