The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has reportedly survived two assassination attempts, a senior official at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has revealed, highlighting the personal risks faced by the agency’s personnel while carrying out high-profile investigations.
Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, December 6, Sammy Darko, the Director of Research, Communications and Strategy at the OSP, made the disclosure amid growing public pressure on the office, with some Ghanaians claiming that the OSP has not delivered the expected results.
“The Special Prosecutor has survived two assassination attempts. Myself, I have been dragged out of my official vehicle and beaten by 17 policemen,” Mr Darko stated.
He insisted that the OSP engages in a serious and often dangerous job that places its officials at risk, particularly in high-stakes investigations involving powerful figures.
“People need to understand the gravity of what we are doing. This is not an office that works behind a desk; we face real threats every day in the course of our duties,” he added.
Darko also addressed critics who question the pace or outcomes of the OSP’s investigations. He argued that the nature of the work involves sensitive and high-risk cases that require discretion and caution.
“Some citizens are quick to judge, claiming that we haven’t delivered. They don’t realise that in criminal investigations, especially those involving influential actors, there are threats and dangers that are not visible to the public,” he said.
The revelation comes amid ongoing debates in Ghana over the effectiveness and independence of the OSP, with journalists, lawyers, and civil society groups closely scrutinising the office’s handling of major cases.
In Parliament on Thursday, some lawmakers argued that the OSP should be scrapped because they had not seen the usefulness of the office despite substantial annual budgetary allocations.