I’ll be my own man – Special Prosecutor nominee

The Special Prosecutor nominee, Mr Kissi Agyebeng has said that he intends to leave a well-established office, run methodically by the end of his seven-year tenure.

The 43-year-old law lecturer and practitioner said, by his estimation, he would have attained the age 50 when leaves the Office of the Special Prosecutor and a solidly established office is a birthday present he intends for himself.

He was optimistic that the office he would leave behind would have its mandate firmly placed on the map, becoming a beacon for countries in the sub-region.

“Mr Chairman, by the time I complete the seven-year tenure of office, I would be 50 years old. I want to leave a solidly established office, with its administration methodically run. That’s the gift I want to give myself on my 50th birthday,” Mr Agyebeng said.

I want to be my own man

Answering questions before Parliament’s Appointments Committee today, the SP nominee, who would be the second to occupy the office since its creation in January 2018, Mr Agyebeng said he would like to be his own man and make the office as independent as possible.

On the issue of whether he had the clout or boldness of the former special prosecutor, he said, “I will not wear anybody’s shoes, I will wear my own shoes. I will be my own man with my own principles and standards.

“In this quest, my conscience and my learning of the law are going to be my guard,” he said.

The nominee spent a little over four hours answering questions on his alleged involvement in crafting the Agyapa royalty transaction, conflict of roles between the Attorney-General and the SP, professional competence, his views on conflict of constitutional and criminal laws, steps he would take to fight corruption.

His views were sought on matters relating to the relevance of the OSP, how he intended to remain independent and what he would do to increase public confidence in the OSP as well as his position on asset declaration.

I was not part of Agyapa deal

The Special Prosecutor nominee also denied allegations that he was involved in the Agyapa Royalties deal.

According to him, the suggestion that he was the surrogate of a law firm that was involved in the transaction came from an uninformed position.

"Whoever says I am a surrogate of a law firm or implicates me in the Agyapa transaction clearly does not know me. Because, if you know me you will not make such allegations.

“I was not involved in the deal and I was nowhere near it and indeed until it started coming out, I did not know what it was. For the record that is the truth,” Mr Agyebeng told Parliament’s Appointment Committee on Thursday.

Asked whether he would not suffer the interference of the Office of the President, he said “the President has assured me of his full support and that is why I am sitting here. I will count on the President’s full support.”