Attack on judiciary: Kissi Agyebeng must be impeached - Martin Amidu

Former Special Prosecutor, Martin A. B. K. Amidu has stated the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng must be impeached.

" . . the removal of the Special Prosecutor from office will protect the judicial branch and thereby the security of the state," he stated in his latest epistle.

According to him his media briefing was first and foremost intended to heap scurrilous abuse on and scandalize the court and judge who ruled on the certiorari and other application in the case of the Republic v the Special Prosecutor and Another, Ex Parte Col. Kwakwo Damoah and Another delivered by the High Court (General Division 5), Accra, on 27 November 2023.

The secondary purpose was to use that occasion to scurrilously abuse and scandalize the judiciary and the administration of justice and bring them into disrepute before the eyes of ordinary members of the public, generally in an attempt to coerce the judiciary, and particularly the Court of Appeal before which appeals from the OSP are pending, and the Supreme Court before which the OSP’s application for certiorari was pending to decide those cases in its favour.

Read below his full statement:

KISSI AGYEBENG, THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR, HAS CROSSED THE REDLINE BY SCANDALIZING THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND MUST BE IMPEACHED

INTRODUCTION

The press conference called by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, a public officer and member of the executive branch of government, on 29 November 2023, with malicious intent to incite the media and the public against the judicial branch of government and bring the administration of justice into disrepute before ordinary members of the Ghanaian and world society crossed the red line of freedom of speech and expression to subvert the letter and spirit of the foundation of the 1992 Constitution.

The Special Prosecutor and the OSP who exercise just an infinitesimally small fraction of the delegated investigatory and prosecutorial powers of Attorney-General dealing only with corruption and corruption-related offence and cannot do or be allowed to do what the delegating authority cannot do.

In whatever dress or apparel or form the Special Prosecutor clothed his intended performance on the front stage of the play to his audience at the press conference, one purpose stands out.

The media briefing was first and foremost intended to heap scurrilous abuse on and scandalize the court and judge who ruled on the certiorari and other application in the case of the Republic v the Special Prosecutor and Another, Ex Parte Col. Kwakwo Damoah and Another delivered by the High Court (General Division 5), Accra, on 27 November 2023.

The secondary purpose was to use that occasion to scurrilously abuse and scandalize the judiciary and the administration of justice and bring them into disrepute before the eyes of ordinary members of the public, generally in an attempt to coerce the judiciary, and particularly the Court of Appeal before which appeals from the OSP are pending, and the Supreme Court before which the OSP’s application for certiorari was pending to decide those cases in its favour.

The Supreme Court coincidentally struck out the application for certiorari when Kissi Agyebeng was on his feet enjoying his delivery at his anti-judiciary incitement media briefing or press conference.

As a public officer paid and maintained out of the public purse the conduct and performance of the Special Prosecutor was inconsistent with and contravened Article 127 of the 1992 Constitution which guarantees the independence of the judiciary in the exercise of the judicial power in both its judicial and administrative functions from control and direction of any person or authority.

More particularly, the conduct and performance of the Special Prosecutor at his orchestrated rented press or media briefing or conference violated clause 2 of Article127 which states clearly that:

“(2) Neither the President nor Parliament nor any other person whatsoever shall interfere with Judges or judicial officers or other persons exercising judicial power, in the exercise of their functions; and all organs and agencies of the state shall accord to the courts such assistance as the courts may reasonably require to protect the independence, dignity and effectiveness of the courts, subject to this Constitution.”

Quite apart from Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, being an integral part of the executive branch he intentionally and the deliberately summoned the media at public expense to directly and indirectly bring undue pressure to bear on judges in the exercise of their judicial power and function.

The OSP, an agency of the executive branch accordingly failed in its constitutional duty to protect the independence, dignity, and effectiveness of the courts by scurrilously abusing and scandalizing the courts and the administration of justice.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appointed pursuant to the Legal Service Act 1993 (Act 320) would have been subjected to disciplinary proceedings for misconduct meriting dismissal from office if he or she called a media conference and said the same things the Special Prosecutor said at the press conference of 29 November 2023 which was intended to bring the administration of justice and the judicial branch into disrepute in the eyes of right thinking members of society contrary to Article 127 of the 1992 Constitution. And all those who worked under me as the Deputy Attorney-General (DAG) and later as the Attorney-General (AG) know that I would either have insisted on the initiation of such disciplinary proceedings or initiated proceedings against a DPP who dared to hold a media briefing to win public sympathy for an unfavourable decision by the courts instead of exhausting the
appellate procedure or forever hold his or her peace.

I have no doubt that the President who was himself an Attorney-General would have initiated disciplinary proceedings against a DPP who committed the same violation of the 1992 Constitution during his tenure as the Attorney-General. Kissi Agyebeng is the worst appointment the President has ever been led into making and the President knows this as a former Attorney-General. The President is not, however, in a position to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the Special Prosecutor as he can only be removed from office under Section 15 of Act 959 by a process of impeachment.

Any person may, however, seek to remove the Special Prosecutor for stated misbehaviour for his unconstitutional media conference performance on 29 November 2023; wilful violation of his Official Oath in contravening Articles 127 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution; and for conduct which brings or is likely to bring the OSP into disrepute, ridicule, or contempt, and is prejudicial and inimical to the security of the state under Section 15 of the Act 959.

Consequently, patriotic citizens ought to be protecting the 1992 Constitution and the sanctity and independence of the judiciary by invoking the provisions of Section 15(3) of Act 959 for the removal of the Special Prosecutor from office.

Ghanaians have to decide whether we want an independent and impartial judiciary which is enshrined under the 1992 Constitution or we want a rogue Special Prosecutor who intentionally violates provisions of the Constitution and the law governing his tenure as a public officer. There is no way Ghana is going to survive should Kissi Agyebeng succeed in using public funds and resources to incite the public to bring the image and integrity of the judiciary down before ordinary right thinking members of society as he did on 29 November 2023.

Between the two, the removal of the Special Prosecutor from office will protect the judicial branch and thereby the security of the state.