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Akufo-Addo Sets Up 'Empty' Prosecutors' Office

Feature Article President Nana Akufo-Addo
FEB 8, 2017 LISTEN
President Nana Akufo-Addo

..it was generally expected that Mr. Martin Amidu had the rightful personality to head the office of prosecutors but the decision of powers that be, it was anybody's guess..

Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the president of Republic of Ghana has finally decided to appoint Mr. Akoto Ampaw to head office of prosecutors instead of Mr. Martin Amidu, the man several Ghanaians were hoping to be appointed as special prosecutor

Mr. Amidu, was previously Attorney General and minister of justice under Mills/Mahama cabinet, who resigned his position due to several unremitting judgement debts being paid by state to several individuals and companies under NDC government of which he was a member of

'Gargantuan crime against the state' was then a synonym of Mr. Amidu's fight against what he considered as political malfeasance being perpetuated by members of his own party, a fight that led to his exit from office. Political pariah to NDC on the other a tool for NPP to win election

Needless to say that Mr. Amidu's constant bashing NDC of "unlawful" payments of judgement debts, especially that of Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, had to some extent paved a way for NPP's victory in Dec. 7th 2016 election

It was in this light that majority of Ghanaians were gunning for Mr Amidu, as many considered him to be a man of integrity and apt to be named to the office of 'special prosecutor' but Mr. Amidu could have his negative side, as he is widely suspected to be arrogant and rambunctious in the field of insubordination

On ther hand, Mr. Akoto Ampaw's professional track record is not that impressive to me. It was the era when he was the head of national media commission that the country witnessed most barrage of intemperate and ethnocentric inflamed rhetorics. In sum it was under his watch that Ken Agyapong declared war in Ghana, his performance at the election petition hearing wasn't that impressive either and couldn't even be matched with his own colleagues, the likes of Philip Addison and Gloria Akufo for example. Nevertheless Mr. Ampaw, has a perfect credentials as he was formerly a partner with president at the firm Nana Addo, Prepeh & Co chambers, he is also a known NPP stalwart.

Now, how would the president appoint NPP affiliate, or Martin Amidu, an NDC ideologist, with possible personal axe to grind with his former colleagues in capacity as independent minds?

In much as the president is at liberty to choose whomsoever as prosecutor, the input of such outfit becomes null and void if the right person is not chosen as well as pertinent technical know-how and logistics necessary to equip such office are not put in place

Get this; there is nothing called independent or special prosecutor: Just as most functional democracies we have 'prosecutors' which are mainly state attorneys

Prosecutor is somebody, per my own understanding, who initiates legal actions craves for convictions of suspects in court of law but his job is worthless without evidence gathered by investigative police officers

In this case, the prosecutors are going to fight political malfeasance or corruptions in the past and present by government officials. I even wonder how many forensic police personnel who are computer experts in Ghana

And the reason being, why the previous supposed corruption cases, like Woyomegate for example, have become joke of the century; is just the fact that we didn't use the police enforcement procedure. And if we should use police personnel, they must be well equipped with the latest technology and skill to help them gather evidence for the prosecutors, otherwise the long-awaited designation of 'special office of prosecutors' would be just for populism or publicity stunt, that is to say the supposed special office will not successfully prosecute a single corruption case

There is similarity between what we are hoping to achieve in Ghana with regards to what is called 'fiscalía anticorrupción,' to wit, anti-corruption prosecutors, which is very effective in exposing corruption cases notably among them, corruption case involving the Spanish King Juan Carlos' daughter infanta Cristina, some even suggested that with the King 'in focus'

We either learn from Spain or better still, invite them to come and teach both the prosecutors and police personnel how to effectively do this particular job. If on the other, we decide not to involve Spain, definitely we have to find means of training police personnel who will work with prosecutors in this proposed special office

Note: This article is my reaction to news item making rounds in the social media of possible appointment of 'special prosecutor'

Agobodzo, Richard
Contact ; [email protected], or,
www.facebook.com/Agobodzo Richard

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