Senior figures within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) appear to have acknowledged internal disagreements over a draft parliamentary bill seeking to abolish the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), a key anti-corruption institution.
The party’s General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey, has publicly criticised the Majority Leader and the Chief Whip for pushing the proposal without wider consultation, warning that unilateral action risks embarrassing the presidency and undermining party cohesion.
“The Majority Leader and the Chief Whip are doing a good job, but they must appreciate they are not an island,” Mr Kwetey said in an interview on JoyNews on Wednesday (17 December).
“Major decisions must be taken in consultation with the party. We were not consulted.”
Disconnect
His remarks appear to confirm claims by opposition figures that the move to scrap the OSP did not have the backing of President John Dramani Mahama, who has already described calls for the office’s abolition as premature.
The private member’s bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga and Chief Whip Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, proposes repealing the law that established the OSP and dissolving the institution entirely. It has not yet been formally laid before Parliament.
Critics of the proposal, including Nana Akomea of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), have questioned the level of coordination within government.
Mr Akomea suggested the bill pointed to a “disconnect” between Parliament, Cabinet, and the President, asking whether the ruling party was “talking to itself.
Political agenda
The OSP was created in 2017 to prosecute corruption independently of political influence. While its performance and cost have been repeatedly debated, supporters argue it remains a central pillar of Ghana’s anti-graft framework.
There have been efforts to distance the Mahama administration from the bill.
Gomoa Central MP Kwame Asare Obeng, known as A-Plus, had dismissed suggestions that the government intends to dismantle the office, describing such claims as part of a political agenda to portray the administration as soft on corruption.
“The issue is performance, not existence,” he said, arguing that concerns about the current Special Prosecutor should not be used to justify scrapping the entire institution.
Mr Kwetey, meanwhile, urged parliamentary leaders to slow down and build consensus. He warned against actions that could force the President to intervene to halt party-backed legislation publicly.
“Don’t go and do things that will compel the President to come and say no,” he said. “We must work as an organ, together.”
