The Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) handling of the corruption case against former Public Procurement Authority (PPA) CEO, A.B. Adjei, has come under renewed scrutiny as a string of abandoned charges, procedural missteps and contradictory explanations continue to cast doubt on the institution’s prosecutorial direction.
The concerns, raised by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, point to a case that has been reset after two years of courtroom proceedings with no substantial new evidence and with key charges quietly removed.
The controversy stems from the OSP’s decision to discontinue the ongoing trial shortly after Awuni’s lengthy cross-examination ended in April 2024.
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The action nullified more than a year and a half of testimony from Awuni and other witnesses, only for prosecutors to refile a new charge sheet that mirrored the old one.
No fresh charges appeared, and the central allegation of Adjei “directly influencing a procurement process”,which CHRAJ had earlier established,was strikingly absent, reduced to “indirectly influencing” in the revised filing.
Awuni’s attempts to understand the basis for this reversal met a trail of contradictions.
The OSP’s Director of Prosecution initially claimed new evidence and financial recoveries had emerged, but the lawyer handling the case later admitted no such funds were found and confirmed that an attempt to trace Adjei’s assets was abandoned.
When Awuni contacted Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng in October seeking clarity, Agyebeng first requested two weeks to respond, then asked for additional time, and ultimately offered no explanation.
He disclosed instead that he had ordered further investigations and was prepared to drop and refile the case yet again,a possible third cycle.
Sources within the OSP reportedly contradict the claim of fresh investigations, stating that the only new action before the second filing was the authentication of bank payments.
The uncertainty has left witnesses disillusioned. Awuni, who invested substantial time, resources and emotional energy during his cross-examinations, now refuses to testify again unless the OSP provides answers.
He argues that the judiciary had handled the case professionally, noting that objections from defence lawyers were repeatedly overruled, and that any failure lies solely with the OSP.
The CHRAJ investigator who followed him to the stand now also risks seeing his testimony rendered meaningless if the charges collapse again.
The case has also exposed troubling lapses within the OSP. An error during the trial saw prosecutors submit a pen drive to the court without the “Contracts for Sale” documentary it was meant to contain, a discovery made deep into proceedings.
The OSP later had to refile the material for it to be admitted. Beyond the PPA matter, Awuni links the institution’s inconsistencies to a broader pattern.
He cites contradictions in the OSP’s claims about money laundering investigations, inaccurate impressions created about its inability to restrict former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s travel, discrepancies between its public timeline for the SML probe and internal documents, and shifting figures on alleged financial savings from that investigation.
Even public commentary from an OSP-affiliated communicator adds to the confusion.
A Facebook post by Samson Lardy Anyenini acknowledged that journalist findings are not evidence, but in the next breath conceded that investigators had initially relied on those same findings to proceed to court before later describing the case as “hollow.”
His claim that the trial was only “now beginning” also conflicts with the fact that proceedings began in December 2022, with Awuni undergoing cross-examination for over a year.
These unresolved contradictions and procedural stumbles have led Awuni to conclude that the OSP bears full responsibility for the paralysis of a case triggered by his 2019 “Contracts for Sale” exposé.
With no clear justification for abandoning and refiling charges, and the possibility of yet another restart hanging over the matter, he warns that the OSP’s credibility has been badly shaken and says he will scrutinise its future claims more critically than before.
