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Amidu Under Scrutiny For Not Prosecuting Corruption Racketeers

General News Martin Amidu
MAY 3, 2019 LISTEN
Martin Amidu

Mr Martin Alamisi Amidu, the Special Prosecutor who have been tasked by the government to lead the fight against corruption, work has come under severe scrutiny by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) after 12 months in office with nothing to show.

The party said it was unimpressed about the work of the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) headed by self-acclaimed citizen vigilante and anti-corruption crusader, Martin Amidu.

The NPP said, the seemly inaction of the Special Prosecutor has heightened the public’s impatience and called for a radical change of operation at the anti-craft office.

President Akufo-Addo established the office of the special prosecutor in fulfilment of a political campaign promise in the run-up to the 2016 elections.

The sole aim of the office which presumed to be independent without political interference is to identify corruption cases, gather evidence and prosecute the officers, especially public officers involved.

Since it establishment and the subsequent appointment of Martin Amidu, a former Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General under the Jerry John Rawlings of the NationalDemocratic Congress(NDC) regime, many expressed confidence in him.

However, after a year into office, Martin has not yet drag any single soul to court. Some time last year, he complained of been starved with resources to operate and gave warning that he would call it a quite if, by end of the second quarter of 2019, his office is not resourced.

Thankfully, the 2019 budget allocated over GHS88 million for the office of the Special Prosecutor, covering administrative, technical and operation works

But lately, there has been public disapproval over the effectiveness of the office in the wake of corruption-related scandals that rocked the state involving persons closer to government, yet nothing is being done.

Some Journalists through undercover investigation have exposed corruption deals involving officers and government appointees in the infamous illegal mining known as Galamsey fight.

The latest being Secretary to Inter-ministerial Committee and another one where a Minister of State attempted to bribe Starr FM Journalist Edward Adeti to abode a damning story on a Chinese Mining Company, Shaanix Company limited in the Upper East Region

With these and other corruption cases, many are expecting the office of the special prosecutor to zoom in and have the officers involve prosecuted but nothing of that sort is being done.

The Communications Director of the governing NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoah told Journalists in Accra, the party was not impressed with Martin Amidu performance so far.

According to him, the inaction of the Special Prosecutor is affecting public confidence in the government’s anti-corruption stance.

“I am aware that the Special Prosecutor wants to establish an institution…a solid institution that will stand the test of time But, I think that office should also be aware that there’s a certain public impatience about seeing something done," Mr Buabeng stated.

The NPP Communication Director who is also MP for Adenta, urged the Special Prosecutor, to publish a status report on the progress made so far on investigations aimed at reinvigorating public confidence in the government and the President resolve to fighting corruption in the country.

“I can urge him to demonstrate some readiness, maybe some low hanging fruits, make some pronouncements. I think some sort of status report at this stage may help us," he added.

Felix Engsalige Nyaaba
Felix Engsalige Nyaaba

JournalistPage: FelixEngsaligeNyaaba

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