OSP Says IMF’s Diagnostic Assessment Reflects its Infancy Period

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has responded to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Governance Diagnostic Assessment on its function and effectiveness, saying the review covered a period during which it was still trying to find its feet.

In a statement, the Office explained that at the time, it had about 23 staff, nine of whom were on secondment, with the full complement of vetted, permanent staff only confirmed in September 2023.

These staff, it said, were authorised to handle sensitive duties in 2024.

“The data collected largely reflects the OSP’s 2023 operational reality, when the institution was still in its infancy.”

“Much has changed since then. What the IMF captured were early-stage structural challenges, not the OSP’s current operational strength.”

The IMF’s Ghana Governance Diagnostic Assessment affirmed that the institution risks continued failure in confronting major corruption cases due to fundamental structural weaknesses.

It faulted the Office for the lack of a clear, consistent, and enforceable charging policy.

“There is currently no clear and consistent policy in place at the OSP which determines when a case meets the legal and evidential burdens for proceeding to charge and assessing whether it is likely to result in a conviction.”

To address this, the IMF recommended the creation and implementation of a formal Charging Code, which would require prosecutors to evaluate every case through a two-stage process.

The first stage would determine whether there is “sufficient reliable and credible evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction,” taking into account likely defence strategies.

Only if this evidential threshold is met should prosecutors move to the second stage, which assesses whether pursuing the charge is in the public interest.

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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