Mr. Amidu has not resigned because of interference from the Presidency- NPP

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has disclosed that the resignation of the Special Prosecutor has not been influenced by any interference from the presidency.

Reacting to the resignation of the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, the incumbent party expressed their shock and dismay over the SP’s exit.

In a statement signed by the communications Director of the party, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, he explained the party is shocked because Mr. Amidu “chose to walk away from the golden opportunity of establishing a brand new effective agency, having had the best part of three years to demonstrate and cement his undoubted anti-corruption credentials in doing so”.

“Mr. Amidu has not resigned because any investigation of his has been interfered with by the Presidency or any member of government.  Since 2018, he has been offered all the room and support he needed by law and mandate and every money he has requested to set up an entirely new institution, which comes with its own challenges, and to operate the Office independently and efficiently. No political office holder has interfered in the administration of that Office”.

Albeit his actions appear to impact both the incumbent and immediate past governments, it stated that, it likewise “vindicates the wisdom of the mandate and powers of the Office which he occupied. An Office hinged on independence of thought and action”.

“In short, the very independence and authority of the Office demand that its conclusions hold up to scrutiny. In this regard, much as the Office has the power and right to issue the Report, the recipient President also had a duty to engage the Hon. Minister of Finance, who in his Memo requested by the President in response, clearly engages very transparently on the issues raised in the report.

Expressing their dismay over the president’s engagement with the Finance Minister over the Agyapa report, which may have necessitated the OSP’s exit, the incumbent party quipped “as to how this can be stretched to mean interference”.

“There is nothing said or done that stopped the Special Prosecutor from going ahead to undertake a full and proper investigation of Agyapa beyond the assessment done.  All he had to do was continue his mandate to undertake an investigation and continue with prosecution if a prima facie case could be established. Otherwise, Mr. Amidu’s apparently noble gesture of resignation may, sadly, smack of political grandstanding”. 

The NPP further insisted on its assertion of having a “better claim to good governance, as they hold CSOs as their natural ally in delivering good governance” and “therefore must lay out the situation as it presumably is”.

“Stated bluntly, the current NDC leadership record on anti-corruption is probably the worst ever. Their record on institutional strengthening is abysmal, as evidenced by the Audit Service Activity Report of 2014 lamenting the lack of financial and logistical support since 2012, thereby hampering their work.

“Their record on anti-corruption legislation is weak, the PFM having been passed under pressure, with massive abuses of sole sourcing under the legal procurement regime put in by the Kufuor administration. The highlight of NDC perfidy is the interoperability process where NDC was giving Ghana a bill of $1.2 billion. The NPP did it for $4.2 million”.

Recounting the bravado displayed by Martin Amidu who in 2012 described the NDC of undertaking “gargantuan corruption”  which accounted for his dismissal by President John Evans Atta Mills, the NPP posited that,  Ghanaians admired Martin Amidu’s subsequent role as  “Citizen Vigilante” “and it was because of this fierce sense of independence and experience as a prosecutor that apparently persuaded  President Akufo-Addo to nominate Martin Amidu, a long-standing leading member of the NDC to be the first Special Prosecutor. Even then, the NDC fought against the appointment at the Supreme Court but without success”.