Ghana: Power-drunk OSP Detains Seasoned Lawyer Martin Kpebu at an Undisclosed Location

Lawyer Martin Kpebu

Lawyers for Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, a seasoned lawyer, have disclosed that he has been detained by officials of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The detention on December 3 follows the attendance at the OSP in response to an invitation extended to Mr Kpebu.

He was arrested for allegedly obstructing an officer of the OSP when he honoured the invitation.

Kpebu was at the OSP to meet investigators over his corruption allegations against Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.

3news sources say Kpebu protested the composition of the investigative committee, insisting on an “independently constituted” one.

“They kept making me appear before subordinates. Subordinates can’t investigate their boss. It’s incompetence,” Kpebu is reported to have said.

Speaking in an interview on TV3’s News360, one of the lawyers, Marcellinus Biah, said, “They whisked him away. As we speak now, we are unable to tell where Mr Kpebu is.”

According to Mr Biah, “…this afternoon at about two o’clock, we attended the invitation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to assist them in investigations. So, while we were at the premises,

Martin granted an interview outside the premises of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and returned. So, it appears that one of the officers, that is, the police officer at the gate was not too happy with Martin granting an interview outside the premises of the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Martin actually telling him that, no, there was nothing wrong with him granting an interview and subsequently attending to the inquiry.

He continued that, “And so there was some amount of altercation between, verbal exchange between him and then the officer. Thereafter, Martin proceeded to attend to the inquiry committee.

So while we were, I mean, having discussions with the inquiry committee, in the course of that they told Martin that he had actually obstructed an officer of the Special Prosecutor and for that matter, he was going to be charged.

Meanwhile, let me be quick to add that when the altercation took place, Martin was first to even request to make a complaint against the third officer. But we’re told that the complaint centre was not available to take our complaints. So, Martin proceeded to the inquiry board committee and presented a complaint before them.”

Mr Biah added that “He also insisted that the matter should be dealt with even before we could attend to the substantive matter. So we were quite surprised that in the course of the proceedings, the officers went down, up and down, came back and told us that Martin was under arrest because they had gone to investigate the matter that Martin was rather the one at fault. And for that matter, they were charging him with the offence of obstructing an officer of the Special Prosecutor.

That’s the charge. Yes. So eventually they said he was briefly admitted to bail. In addition to that, he was to present one surety. So, I quickly drove back to the office, which is just about 10 10-minute drive.”

Lately, Martin Kpebu has been on the case of the Special Prosecutor, accusing him of making contradictory statements in relation to matters concerning the former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

Speaking on TV3’s The KeyPoints, Kpebu said the OSP’s claim that the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) refused to assist in the attempted arrest of Ken Ofori-Atta has been proven to be false.

“The head of an anti-corruption body cannot lie to citizens, run down state institutions without evidence, and expect to remain in office. This is a serious breach of integrity. NIB has formally stated it never received any request from the Special Prosecutor. If this were a slip, he should have admitted it immediately.

The continued justification shows it was deliberate. You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand this. He said he intercepted a letter, went to NIB, National Security and Immigration, and got no help. Now he’s changing the story. The contradictions are too clear to ignore,” he said.

Kpebu said he independently verified the Special Prosecutor’s assertions by contacting both current and former NIB officials.

According to him, one confirmed receiving any request from the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

He cited an official written response he received from the NIB dated 27 November 2025, which stated clearly that “the Bureau did not receive any formal request for assistance to arrest Mr Ofori-Atta”.

Kpebu argued that this contradicts the Special Prosecutor’s earlier statements, where he claimed he had approached NIB, National Security and the Immigration Service for help to prevent Ofori-Atta from travelling.

According to the lawyer, the Special Prosecutor also claimed he “intercepted” a travel letter involving the former minister and attempted to act on it.

He believes the Special Prosecutor is attempting to rationalise what he describes as a “deliberate falsehood.”

“He said it himself. We all heard him. You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand what he said. He claimed he intercepted the letter, went to NIB, National Security and Immigration, and didn’t get help,” Kpebu noted.

He criticised what he calls the running down of state institutions without evidence, saying it was improper for the Special Prosecutor to accuse key security agencies of refusing to cooperate.

He suggested that this alone should raise serious concerns about the Special Prosecutor’s conduct.

Kpebu further argued that the matter goes beyond a mere misstatement and could warrant a Commission of Inquiry under the Constitution.

He also questioned why the Special Prosecutor has not immediately retracted the comments if they were made in error.

“If it was a slip of tongue, he should have said so from the start. The continued justification only shows it was deliberate,” he said.

The private legal practitioner added that public pressure is necessary to demand accountability, saying Ghanaians should not wait until the next election cycle to act.

He concluded that the Special Prosecutor has “lost the plot” and should not remain in office after what he describes as a serious breach of integrity.

3news

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