Manasseh Azure pulls out of AB Adjei trial, accuses OSP of undercutting its own prosecution

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has withdrawn as a key prosecution witness in the ongoing case against former Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Chief Executive, A.B. Adjei, accusing the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of deliberately weakening the case and showing no genuine commitment to securing justice.

In a detailed public statement, Manasseh revealed that the OSP informed him on October 8, 2025, that he was required to return to court on October 20 as part of the prosecution’s case—despite the fact that he had already testified extensively between December 2022 and April 2024.

He explained that after investing nearly two years of his time and personal resources to assist the prosecution, he was stunned when the OSP abruptly dropped all 17 original charges against A.B. Adjei and the lone charge against his brother-in-law, Francis Arhin.

When the case was refiled in May 2024 with eight so-called “new” charges, Manasseh said he became increasingly suspicious after closely examining both the old and new charge sheets.

“On careful review, I realised that every one of the eight charges already existed in the original case. There was absolutely nothing new,” he stated.

He further disclosed that one of the strongest charges—direct influence over a procurement process—had been completely removed, making the fresh case even weaker than the original prosecution.

This development, he said, raised serious concerns that the prosecution was being deliberately structured to benefit the accused.

“It began to look like the prosecution was working in the interest of the accused person, while I was being positioned as a pawn in a pre-arranged scheme,” he said.

Disturbed by these developments, Manasseh said he refused to testify again until he received clear answers. He engaged directly with the Director of Prosecutions at the OSP, who insisted that a new investigation had uncovered substantial new evidence.

However, Manasseh said multiple sources within the OSP later told him that no such fresh investigation had actually taken place. A subsequent discussion with Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, he said, confirmed that no new probe had been conducted.

He also questioned why Count 18—relating to direct influence in procurement—was struck out, even though CHRAJ’s findings allegedly contained clear evidence on that matter.

According to him, the Director of Prosecutions could neither justify the removal of the charge nor disclose the monetary value of the so-called new financial evidence. He further claimed the Director did not even have the full case docket at the time of their discussion.

Manasseh also contacted the state prosecutor handling the matter, who reportedly admitted that apart from seeking confirmation from bankers to authenticate previous transactions, no new funds were found in A.B. Adjei’s accounts. She also told him she had never seen the “three boxes of evidence” CHRAJ said it handed to the OSP.

At that point, Manasseh said his confidence in the prosecution had completely collapsed.

“I became convinced that the OSP was not serious about this case, and I was not prepared to waste my time testifying again when the case had clearly been weakened,” he stated.

On October 27, 2025, he formally informed Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng of his intention to withdraw from the case. He was asked to wait two weeks for responses to his concerns, but according to him, the Special Prosecutor later got back to him without providing any concrete answers.

Even a month later, Manasseh said, no clear explanations had been given. He added that the Special Prosecutor indicated he was considering ordering yet another fresh investigation and was prepared to drop and refile the case again if necessary.

Manasseh described this as deeply troubling.

“This is a case that broke in 2019, and we are about to enter 2026. If a meaningful investigation had been done from the start, we would not be at this point,” he said.

He further revealed that the Special Prosecutor admitted that the prosecution so far had relied entirely on the CHRAJ investigation and Manasseh’s own findings.

To him, the decision to order another fresh investigation after refiling charges was proof that no thorough investigative work had been done before the case was restarted.

He concluded by stating that any serious prosecutor would have resolved the concerns he raised long before the case was reintroduced in court.