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The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has provided clarifications regarding the operations of his office in his fight against corruption and related offences.
He explained that he has a distinct approach when inviting informants, compared to individuals considered as suspects.
Mr. Agyebeng highlighted that individuals categorized as suspects are generally requested to appear with their legal representatives.
The Special Prosecutor’s statement comes in response to his invitation and subsequent arrest of former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, who was later granted a GH¢2 million bail last month.
The former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation was invited to address inquiries pertaining to alleged corruption and corruption-related offences concerning the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), he chaired.
“We treat everybody in the same manner when you appear before us. The nature of how you come to us is very crucial and very important. If you are my confidential source, whistleblower, there is a way I will contact you, and there is a way I will invite you. There is a way I will talk to you because I need information from you. But if you are appearing before me as a suspect, there is also a way. I do not invite you, I direct you to show up because it is a criminal investigation. You are directed to show up. And in the direction to show up, you are specifically told, what we are investigating and the subject matter of what we are investigating”.
He emphasized, “And then in the direction for you to come, we tell you that you are a person who is considered necessary for the investigation. And there is a specific direction for you to show up at a specific address for the interview. Then you are told of your rights, that when you are coming, you may come with the counsel of your choice”.
According to Mr. Agyebeng, whistleblowers are not required to appear with their lawyers, whereas suspects are instructed to bring their legal representatives.
“If I see you as a whistleblower, I consider you as a confidential source, I will not be telling you that when you are appearing before me, come with your lawyer. Why would you need a lawyer if you are coming to divulge some information which I may be interested in? But immediately I tell you that you are directed to show up and that come with a lawyer, then you should know that you are a suspect. And that goes for everyone who appears before us in that scheme of affairs,” he explained on Newsfile on Joy FM.
He noted that people are currently attempting to grasp the nature of his office and its operations.
“It is a unique institution with powers that people are now trying to understand,” Kissi Agyebeng stated.
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