CSOs allowed to join Supreme Court case challenging OSP powers

The Supreme Court has allowed 14 civil society organisations to join a case challenging the constitutionality of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and its power to prosecute criminal cases.

The organisations were admitted as friends of the court, also known as amicus curiae, on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.

A seven-member panel of the apex court granted the application after counsel for the CSOs, Kizito Beyuo, argued that the organisations had played important roles in the creation of the OSP and could assist the court with expert perspectives.

The groups have been given 14 days to file their processes.

The CSOs are Transparency International Ghana, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, IMANI Africa, Democracy Hub, STAR-Ghana Foundation, NORSAAC, Penplusbytes, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Odekro, A Rocha Ghana, Parliamentary Network Africa, One Ghana Movement and Africa Education Watch.

The case was filed on December 12, 2025, by Noah Ephraim Tetteh Adamtey, who invoked the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

He is asking the court to interpret provisions of the 1992 Constitution and declare aspects of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017, Act 959, unconstitutional.

Mr Adamtey argues that the law wrongly gives the OSP independent prosecutorial authority.

He wants the court to declare that any part of Act 959 which gives the OSP original or insulated prosecutorial powers is inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore void.

He specifically challenges sections 3(3) and 4 of the Act.

According to him, those provisions unlawfully make the OSP independent of the Attorney-General in the initiation, conduct and termination of criminal prosecutions.

The suit relies on constitutional provisions including Articles 1(2), 88(3), 88(4), 93(2) and 296.

Article 88(3) provides that the Attorney-General is responsible for the initiation and conduct of all criminal prosecutions.

Article 88(4) also states that offences prosecuted in the name of the Republic must be brought at the suit of the Attorney-General or a person authorised by the Attorney-General in accordance with law.

In his draft statement of case, the Attorney-General also argues that prosecutorial authority is constitutionally vested in the Attorney-General.

The A-G contends that Parliament acted unconstitutionally by passing a law that effectively compels the Attorney-General to delegate part of that authority to the OSP.

According to the A-G, Act 959 changes the constitutional role of the Attorney-General by making the A-G responsible only for cases not being prosecuted by the OSP.

The case is expected to have major implications for Ghana’s anti-corruption architecture and the future scope of the OSP’s mandate.