President John Dramani Mahama has requested the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, and the Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, to suspend their move to introduce a Private Members’ Bill seeking to abolish the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
This was made known in a statement issued on Thursday, December 11, amid growing public debate after the two lawmakers drafted the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Repeal) Bill, 2025, aimed at repealing the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
The proposed Bill, dated 8 December 2025, argues that the OSP has faced structural and constitutional challenges over the past eight years, including duplication of prosecutorial functions with the Attorney-General’s Office and operational inefficiencies.
The memorandum accompanying the draft legislation also cites high administrative costs and limited impact relative to budget allocations as reasons Parliament should return corruption prosecution powers solely to the Attorney-General, as provided under Article 88 of the Constitution.
Supporters of the repeal contend that the existence of two separate prosecutorial bodies has created jurisdictional overlap, policy fragmentation and avoidable delays in criminal proceedings.
They propose that a specialised anti-corruption division within the Attorney-General’s Office would offer a more coherent and cost-effective model for fighting corruption.
The Bill outlines transitional measures to integrate the OSP’s work into the Attorney-General’s structure without significant additional costs.
However, President Mahama has distanced himself from the move, instructing the Majority Leadership not to proceed with the Bill.
His directive signals a major intervention in what was expected to become a contentious national debate over the future of Ghana’s anti-corruption institutions.
JoyNews sources within the Presidency indicate that Mahama prefers broader consultations and a more measured national conversation before any major structural reforms are considered.
The suspension of the legislative initiative is expected to ease tensions in the short term, but the underlying questions about the efficiency, cost and constitutional grounding of the OSP remain unresolved.
With public opinion sharply divided, the development sets the stage for further scrutiny of Ghana’s anti-corruption framework in the coming weeks.