Hot SourceThe Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has defended the bail conditions imposed on broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere, insisting they are standard and designed to discourage suspects from fleeing the justice process.
Speaking to journalists, Agyebeng clarified that all suspects who appear before the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) are required to meet basic legal conditions before being granted bail—one of which is providing landed property as surety.
“The OSP as a suspect—when you say you do not have any landed property, you can’t bail yourself if you don’t have any landed property,” he stated.
He explained that while no specific monetary value is placed on the property provided, it serves as a form of insurance that the suspect will appear before investigators or in court when required.
“Bring what you have. It is to encourage you not to run, because if you run away, that property will be confiscated by the state,” Agyebeng added.
He noted that any suspect without landed property effectively becomes a liability on the state and risks having any future assets confiscated if they abscond.
“If you say you don’t have anything, you have placed yourself on the state. And anything the state finds on you, it is confiscated. It is as simple as that,” he emphasised.
Background
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has formally charged Paul Adom-Otchere, the former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), in connection with a controversial revenue assurance contract — but the embattled media personality remains in custody after failing to meet bail conditions.
Mr. Adom-Otchere, along with two others — Otchere Kwame Baffour Awuah, Group Executive of Commercial Services at GACL, and Albert Adjetey Adjei-Laryea, CEO of Devnest Systems — was interrogated and charged by the OSP earlier this week.
Mr. Adom-Otchere has been unable to satisfy his bail terms, which require him to produce two landed properties registered in his name. However, he reportedly told investigators that he does not own any landed property in Ghana, prompting his continued detention.
The Special Prosecutor is investigating suspected corruption and procurement irregularities surrounding a sole-sourced contract awarded under Mr. Adom-Otchere’s watch. The deal, which was meant to improve revenue assurance at GACL, allegedly went to a company other than the one approved by the GACL Board. The firm in question is said to be connected to the owner of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).
The ongoing probe forms part of a broader anti-corruption sweep targeting irregular public sector contracts and governance breaches in state-owned enterprises.
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