It's not strange - Prof. Oquaye on High Court's decision in OSP-AG power row

Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, former Speaker of Parliament, has broken his silence on the legal crisis surrounding the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), asserting that "no Act of Parliament can override the constitutional mandate of the Attorney-General." His comments follow a High Court ruling on Wednesday, which determined that the OSP does not possess the constitutional authority to prosecute cases without the express authorisation of the Attorney-General, despite the provisions of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). In an interview with JoyNews' Gemma Appiah, Prof. Oquaye stated that the court's decision was "not strange at all".

Prof. Oquaye argued that the 1992 Constitution remains the supreme authority. He stated, "The constitutional provisions we give the Attorney General as the sole authority to prosecute cannot co-exist with another organisation until the law of the Constitution is changed." He expressed concern over the trend of creating multiple institutions to solve singular problems and advocated for strengthening existing ones.

Prof. Oquaye predicted that the matter would inevitably escalate to the highest court in the land to provide a definitive settlement on the boundaries of prosecutorial independence in Ghana. He said, "This is something that must be finally resolved. I trust that it will go finally to the Supreme Court. Then we shall know for sure."