Martin Amidu The Patriot

Corruption has done so much damage to this country; in conflict resolution, it is called structural violence-it is an invisible violence that kills millions without anybody seeing it.

Taking millions for oneself under illegal circumstances deprives people of good health, education and all the developmental facilities.

If anyone steals money, he would be considered a criminal, not a member of a political party

So those who think they have hidden something abroad; may be they don't need to approve me because if they do, I will find it. I have the capability; I have done it before and if you approve me it will be done.

So if in the past there were those slippages and leakages resulting in people being shot at the firing squad by no less a regime but the June 4^th regime, which later metamorphosed into PNDC under which I served and whose ideals I am to protect, I am committed to what I started as a young man.

I can't live in harmony with criminals and traitors. Decent people, I will live with them but criminals, I can't.

(MARTIN AMIDU AT A SPECIAL VETTING BY PARLIAMENT)

When one is jobless but wants to stay current, newspapers and radio and T.V stations become one's companions. So I had time for his vetting just as many other such events of public interest, to get glued to my 4×4 TV to see how Mr. Martin Amidu, the nominee for the position of Special Prosecutor was going to go through the barrage of questions from both admirers and those who hate him. For me, contrary to what many commentators and modern day social and political analysts have said in their assessment of what he said right and what he said wrong in relation to the questions put to him, Martin Amidu is a real patriot.

At a point, tears began welling in mine eyes. I shared his worries and concerns for this great nation called Ghana. That this nation has become a milking cow for a few privileged people who have been put in responsible positions to plan this nation for us all but have failed us. They have been given resources to deal with identified problems afflicting majority of the good people of this resource rich nation, these are the privileged few out of the millions who had the benefit of the nation's resources being invested in their education and training in the hope that they will in turn work to help improve the lives of generations below them and those ahead of them who also laboured to ensure the survival of our country.

These are people in public office, who collude with their counterparts in the private sector to loot this nation with glee while the nation cries. Operators in public institutions employed to ensure that those who loot national resources are identified, brought to book and punished rather guide them in the perpetration of the ills against the nation or cover them up when the deal is done.

Corruption, as it has been said times without number, is as old as Adam and it is found in every society in the world, big or small. The problem is not the existence of corruption as a canker but the will by institutions put in place to deal with the menace or otherwise that makes corruption a menace and dangerous to our collective survival.

As a young man hustling in Nigeria in those 'welcome to Agege' era when many of us Ghanaians trooped into that country, I came to love the column of one of Nigeria's celebrated academicians, Dr. Tai Solarin in the The Tribune Newspaper. He was telling a story about the Chinese and how they used to be associated with petty stealing. Over time, a certain leader emerged who made the act of stealing a very dangerous occupation. Tai Solarin went on to say that he travelled to China in those times and when he checked out, he had deliberately left a small towel he had bought but had no use for it when returning to Nigeria.

On his way to the Airport which was not too far from the Hotel, a car chased him up just to deliver the small towel he had left behind not out of forgetfulness but intentionally. The society had changed. In other jurisdictions, in fact those economically advanced nations we always go begging for support, they will use every means, even if it has to take their whole resources to look out and arrest and punish criminals in the area of corruption.

We have always bemoaned the incidences of corruption in this country, pre- independence till now, governments or Heads of governments have expressed varying degrees of disgust about corruption particularly within the public sector. No major sustainable actions have ever been taken to address the albatross not just hanging on our necks but bringing all of us down because of its weight on our social and economic lives. The last ever action aimed at rooting out corruption in this country was what June 4 and 31^st December attempted to do. The two regimes failed because their actions were, by and large, extra-judicial and in some cases baseless but envious targeting of successful people in our society.

No one can dispute the fact that in recent times, Mr. Martin Amidu has been the lone genuine voice against the blatant abuse of public resources by public officials and their accomplices in the private sector. The society generally has spoken about these things but no concrete action has been taken to deal with them. Mr. Amidu in recent times single handedly fought on the side of the nation to get criminals both in the public and private sectors who have looted our resources to refund them or get punished.

Ironically, the state institutions whose responsibilities they are to investigate the perpetrators and get them prosecuted instead work for the villains in some cases and present very weak cases before the courts, that is if we are lucky enough to present any of such cases before the courts. In spite of what might have even been a threat to his life and freedoms, Mr. Amidu soldiered on for the sake of mother Ghana.

Each year, reports of embezzlement of national resources through collusion and blatant stealing are made public through the Auditor-General's Reports and nothing gets done. Strangely enough, while those suspected to have engaged in those acts move around with impunity, people who were not in charge when the events occurred are instead invited to come and answer questions on matters they did not know anything about. Is this really a serious country?

The level of leakages in the public purse has reduced this resource rich nation to a pauper moving from one place to the other begging for funds to meet the basic needs of our people. One spectacle which gets me mad is the sight of seeing children with certain acute ailments which require specialized surgeries suffering, while parents cry on T.Vs to solicit funds from the public to restore the dignity of that child. I ask myself, so as a nation, we cannot pay for such rare but terrible conditions for our children when it is obvious that their parents are not in a position to pay for them? Meanwhile that cost of putting a smile on the face of that little child is in the pocket of a certain public officer, wining and dining in plush hotels with friends and acquaintances. Yes, stolen monies.

That is why Mr. Amidu is a patriot. With his passion to deal with people who have looted from the national coffers, his selflessness as a person and commitment towards a 'Ghana without aid', I asked, can we have just nine more Ghanaians like him to die for this country? And can we have nine more judges like him who look at the laws and deal with such people brought before them and can we have another nine influential politicians who will urge him on instead of interfering with his work in a negative way?

The time is now to salvage what is left of the rot. Amidu is the patriot of our time.

Daavi, please just three tots
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By Kwesi Biney