Special Prosecutor Hon. Martin Amidu Threatens To Resign If MPs/Ministers Dubiously Paid Double Salaries Are Not Investigated And Prosecuted

Hon. Martin Amidu has once more proved that he is a man of integrity. He believes in justice for all irrespective of one’s social status. He does not believe in selective justice as it is vividly the ongoing norm in Ghana to favour certain groups of persons, especially the rich, political party gurus, traditional chiefs and queens and all those who think they hold Ghana in their hands like a delicate egg that they can crush as and when they like hence have to be pampered and kowtowed to.

He does not see the reason for a petty thief stealing a bunch of plantain, a bag of cassava, a goat or any food item being arrested, prosecuted and jailed for two to five or more years while a rich person, a government appointee etc., swindles the State of millions of Cedis but allows to go scot free. Where is the justice here and how do we fight to successfully uproot corruption from the society if such should be how the delivery of justice goes in Ghana?

He has categorically stated that if those Members of Parliament who doubled as Ministers and as a result received double salaries or payments for the entire duration that they held those positions, knowing that taking such payments were wrong, are not thoroughly investigated and prosecuted, then he cannot prosecute any other person in Ghana. Those government appointees should have known better since they are legislators and they know the law. If they chose to break the law to illegally enrich themselves, then they have to bear the consequences.

He cited himself as an example of a person who once received a double pay as a Deputy Minister but as soon as the payment came through, he returned it saying the payer had made a mistake. Why did the others not do the same but are now feigning ignorance and blaming the Accountant General for paying them double salaries not for a month but for years? They think they are being smart but in effect, they are exposing their stupidity and propensity to enrich themselves illegally.

According to the Special Prosecutor, his position will become irrelevant and untenable if the MPs/Ministers are left off the hook. He does not believe in just prosecuting others on the lower echelon of the ladder while leaving out those on the top rung of the ladder like the MPs and Ministers who by their fondness for corruption have tarnished their reputation and collapsed Ghana.

This is where His Excellency the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo must tread carefully without yielding in to any pressures from any quarters to intervene to let the affected MP/Ministers off the hook. If he does, then his fight against corruption will have failed and Hon. Martin Amidu will surely resign his post to bring further shame upon the President and his sloganized fight against institutional corruption.

The issue has already become a public knowledge so to me personally, there is absolutely nothing the President can do to save the situation other than to allow the investigations and the subsequent prosecutions of the affected MPs/Ministers to go ahead. Whether the affected persons are from the New Patriotic Party fraternity or the National Democratic Congress, they must all face the music. Those alleged to be taking rent allowances while still living free in government bungalows are equally corrupt and are to be prosecuted.

If these government appointees are tackled, it is then that the President will be taken seriously as a person determined to fight corruption. Any intervention by the God-send modern day Joseph, Moses or David in the person of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to extricate the affected MPs/Ministers from their corrupt entanglements will lead to the wrath of God coming to bear heavily upon his head. He was brought in by God to save Ghanaians from the devastations being caused to the people and the nation through official corruption, nonchalance, nepotism and cronyism and other abuses of power hence he is duty-bound to achieve that.

The MPs/Ministers’ case is a perfect example for him to deal a deadly blow to corruption if he allows the law to take its course without intervening to save them leading to twisting justice hence failing as a fair, firm and friendly leader.

As the bible says, the judgment of people at the second coming of Jesus Christ will start from the houses of the Lord, thus, churches, pastors and prophets; so is Hon Martin Amidu’s work to start from the corrupt legislators. Once they are dealt with, it will send shivers down the spine of the rank and file of Ghanaians to deter would-be corrupt officials from involving themselves in embezzlement of funds and assets or any other kinds of condemnable acts of corruption.

In the United Kingdom, some Members of Parliament and Ministers were sacked, prosecuted and jailed for dubiously cheating the system of few hundreds or thousands of pounds from £200 to about £5,000 for say an entire period of five years in what became the infamous MP expenses. Some resigned as soon as they were exposed of indulging in such fictitious expenses. The quoted sum was a total misappropriated for say five years but not on monthly basis. However, in Ghana, one has clearly taken double salaries or payments for years knowing it is illegal, but as they are black with black minds, they are still in power and bragging as though, they had done nothing wrong, and citing witch hunting to authenticate their thievery.

Their constituents must force them to resign as their actions are tantamount to theft and nothing less. They are unfit to be legislators. They should rather live lives worthy of emulation but not in the disgusting manner they have portrayed themselves to the shame of Ghana parliament.

It is said, “if you cut off the head of the snake, the rest of its body becomes a rope”. A rope is lifeless and cannot on its own harm anyone unless you become stupid enough to use it to form a noose to hang yourself. Subsequently, if we prosecute the MPs/Ministers receiving double salaries/payments or rents which they were legally not due for, then tackling those electricians and others going about duping others will become much easier.

The “Ghana dee saa” nonsense that disgusts me to the core should not be allowed to continue under the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The Ghanaian infatuation with corruption must be tackled from all angles to save the country from its shithole status made possible by the institutional corruption perpetrated and perpetuated by our elected leaders in whom we have entrusted our lives and the governance of the nation.

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Rockson Adofo