Emotion doesn’t win arguments. Deep thought does. Emotion says, “Act now.” Deep thought asks, “How do we break this pattern?”
One leads to self-defeating, short-term actions. The other leads to lasting structural change.
Now, let’s talk about the detention of Martin Kpebu. Shall we? The truth is, we still don’t know the exact reason for his detention.
What we do know is that he was invited by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) after making allegations against its head, Kissi Agyabeng.
Upon his release, Kpebu said he had been charged with obstructing an officer in the lawful execution of duty. He linked this to an alleged altercation with two soldiers on the OSP premises.
Until the OSP provides full particulars of the charge, none of this can be confirmed. But here is what is clear.
Was it necessary to detain him, even if obstruction occurred? Absolutely not. Were those bail conditions necessary to secure his attendance? Certainly not. Kpebu is a publicly known lawyer, not a flight risk.
His treatment was unnecessary. No matter the alleged offence, the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals must not be tossed aside.
This was a regrettable episode.
But should this serve as grounds to remove Kissi Agyabeng? Or the grounds for the scrapping of the Office? I doubt it.
I have heard many respected people in society, including distinguished lawyers, say that Kissi Agyabeng should resign or the Office completely dissolved. Also, others suggest that Kpebu’s detention is a death knell for Kissi’s removal. Respectfully, that’s emotion talking.
But what’s the problem here, Kissi, or what happened to Kpebu? I doubt the former is the problem we need to address. Kissi has never been the problem. Not at all. In fact, the problem predates his appointment.
What happened to Kpebu is reprehensible—no question. But it is also the routine experience of countless Ghanaians. These practices have existed within our security agencies for decades. The National Investigations Bureau (NIB), the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the OSP, and the Ghana Police Service all have long histories of such tactics.
Here’s the real issue: Should the IGP, the EOCO boss or the NIB boss be removed because practices like these persist? Or should their offices be scrapped based on that? In fact, have any of them ever been removed for actions that occur almost every day?
It is a shame that the OSP, led by a respected lawyer, is acting like the very agencies it was meant to stand apart from. But that alone does not justify removing Kissi Agyabeng or scrapping the Office.
Why?
Because his removal will not end the broader, deeply rooted culture of unjustified detentions at the OSP or any other security agency.
If we truly want to protect the rights and freedoms of Ghanaians, the conversation must move beyond personalities and shift to one thing: reform.
What consequences exist for officers who detain people without basis? What about routine breaches of the 48-hour rule? The Supreme Court has made it clear: 48 hours means 48 hours.
Yet this rule is violated repeatedly, with little or no accountability. There must be real consequences for any officer who unjustifiably detains a Ghanaian—not just when the individual is ‘special’ or prominent. And Parliament must lead this effort.
The founding laws of these security agencies must be amended to include clear accountability mechanisms.
And the 48-hour rule in the 1992 Constitution should be reduced to 24 hours—nothing more, nothing less—to curb abuse.
Finally, this sudden obsession with removals is replacing the more critical and harder work of institutional reform. It will lead us nowhere.
As the Bible says, there is a time for everything. And this time is for reforms, not removals. That best aligns with the government’s agenda to RESET the country—not to dismiss individuals.
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