EOCO need lifestyle audit powers – Kissi Agyebeng
Thu, 27 Aug 2026
Mr Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor, has called for stronger lifestyle audit and non-conviction-based asset recovery powers to tackle corruption and unexplained wealth
He proposed that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) should be empowered to require persons to demonstrate legitimate
Speaking at a press conference at the OSP in Accra, Mr Agyebeng said assets disproportionate to a person’s legitimate income should be subject to confiscation where their lawful
He said the mechanism could also assist in detecting fraud and undeclared income for tax purposes
Mr Agyebeng said a criminal conviction should not be a prerequisite for asset recovery, arguing that civil proceedings should be sufficient
He also advocated a reverse onus provision under which a person possessing property disproportionate to known legitimate income would be presumed to have acquired it through corrupt means unless proven otherwise
The Special Prosecutor said the proposed unexplained wealth mechanism was not intended to circumvent justice or permit arbitrary confiscation
“Once the appropriate legal threshold is established before a civil court,” he said, unreconcilable assets not traced to legitimate
Mr Agyebeng said the OSP would remain resolute in investigating and prosecuting wrongdoing while pursuing the recovery of assets
He said the Office’s investigative and prosecutorial work had been “gravely hampered” after April 15, but it had since reviewed all cases under investigation and before the courts
The review, he said, had resulted in the discovery of additional evidence and suspects in some cases
Mr Agyebeng said some major pending cases would be refiled based on those discoveries
He said corruption cases were extraordinarily complex and required time, forensic analysis, adequate re
