As a result of worries over Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, not receiving payment for 16 months of salary, the Parliament has withheld approval of the budget projections of GH129,000,000 for the office of the Special Prosecutor.
This is in spite of promises made by Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, the chairman of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs, that the Special Prosecutor's debt may be settled following a meeting with the Finance Ministry within a week.
However, the Majority Leader demanded that the Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs must give a clear guarantee that the arrears will really be paid before the budget estimates for the office can be approved.
Prior to the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament's presentation of the Office of Special Prosecutor's annual budget estimates report for the year 2023, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, expressed worry over the Special Prosecutor's unpaid salary on Thursday.
"Office of Special Prosecutor, you placed that individual there without first confirming his employment status. He is not being compensated. There have been several appointments that make it unclear if the board was informed or not. We need to look at the events at the Special Prosecutor in more detail. You've been asking me for a report even though he hasn't received payment in 16 months. No report has yet been presented here, Mr. Iddrisu stated.
A furious Minority Leader questioned whether any of the government officials who had remained silent on the matter could survive without pay.
"With independent constitutional bodies like the Special Prosecutor, whose pay has been withheld, your commitment to combating corruption begins. Any of you able to survive without a paycheck, he asked.
In the absence of payment of the Special Prosecutor's salary, he advised the government not to submit any reports to the judiciary.
Unless we receive the official communication from President Nana Akufo-Addo, in line with Article 179 of his comments on the budget of the judiciary, no one would provide a report regarding the judiciary here. Avoid the Special Prosecutor's and the judiciary's budgets, he warned.