In a case against Col Kwadwo Damoah, a former Commissioner of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) Customs Division, and Joseph Adu Kyei, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Division, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has taken offense at a ruling made by the Accra High Court.
The OSP claimed that the court’s decision to grant the two individuals mentioned above immunity is a setback in the battle against corruption.
Kissi Agyebeng claims that the decision will undo the gains gained in the battle against corruption.
“The danger of this startling decision is again quite obvious. A judge has in the process granted two persons immunity from investigation and in effect immunity from prosecution. This decision opens up a calamitous deluge as every person under criminal investigation will be encouraged to take out suits to injunct investigation and prosecution bodies from investigating and prosecuting them,” Kissi Agyebeng said.
“I do not intend to sound as though I’m predicting doom but we are facing it, and this is it. With this development, it will not be long, before a suspected murderer or armed robber will boldly walk to court with the unthinkable prayer that the court should injunct law enforcement agencies from investigating him.”
Corruption Fight: Doom is looming ahead of us – Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor#UTVNews pic.twitter.com/DwkNAZtLkN
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) November 29, 2023
The Special Prosecutor expressed concern about the trend at a press conference on Wednesday, November 29.A High Court ruled on Monday to invalidate an OSP report that accused Joseph Adu Kyei, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Division, and Col Kwadwo Damoah, a former Commissioner of the Customs Division at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), of using their positions to give the frozen food company Labianca Company preferential tax treatment.
In November 2022, Damoah and Kyei sued the OSP, claiming that the report was unfounded and had damaged their reputations.
The OSP was then ordered to pay GH₵10,000 in costs, and the court also issued a restraining order to stop the OSP from looking into the two any further.
