The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Hon. Sam Nartey George has stated that the former Special Prosecutor (SP), Martin Amidu, has no business submitting a summary of his corruption risk assessment report on the Agyapa deal to H.E. president Akufo Addo.
According to him, Section 4.1 of the special prosecution Act, has made it clear that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not subject to the direction of the authority of any established institution in Ghana.
“… so he had no business whether by courtesy or whatsoever informing the president, especially when in his risk assessment, he indicts the president. He indicts the president of certain acts that are inimical to the wellbeing of this state”, said Hon Sam George whilst speaking on the PM Express in Accra on Wednesday night.
Touching on the reasons given for the resignation of the SP, Mr Sam George opined that the prime concern to the Ghanaian is not the kind of accommodation given to the OSP. According to him, the concern is that in the Agyapa deal, the president and ministers of state acted in ways that will short-change the taxpayer and personally benefit them.
“We don’t care whether our special prosecutor is working from a skyscraper or a bungalow. What we are interested in is that the people that we voted for, who promised to protect the public purse, are they raking the public purse? And are we going to give them four more years to rake the public purse?”
According to him the president’s reply lacks the basics and does not explain the reason the Special Prosecutor cited for his resignation.
“A lot of verbosities but very lacking in substance”, describing the president’s secretary’s response to the reasons cited by the Special Prosecutor for his resignation.
He defended the resignation of the Special Prosecutor, pointed out that the death of the former president has exposed the special prosecutor to the risk of death.
He cited instances where journalists investigating suspected cases of grand corruption have been killed. He, however, noted that no journalist has been killed during the tenure of former president John Mahama but he stressed that the same cannot be said about the current government.
“Ahmed Suale was a journalist who was investigating actions in which members of the government had been mentioned and was murdered. No journalist investigating or doing anything involving the government or any appointee of President Mahatma was murdered, two different scenarios”.
He further stated that it is interesting that even in the response by the secretary to the president, he has asked questions about Airbus. “We have challenged anybody who thinks he has a stake in the airbus to bring it on.
“When today everybody in the NPP is trying to paint a picture that Martin Amidu was not fit for the office, or has not shown that he was fit for the office, They fail to realize one thing, they are indicting Akufo Addo and his sense of decision making. President Akufo Addo saw the mirage of people in this country, had the opportunity under no pressure and duress, chose Martin Amidu. And today we are being told that Martin was not fit for the office.
“It explains why our nation is in the mess it is today. That same sense of decision making, that same sense of judgment has appointed 125 ministers who are not performing. He has appointed chief executives who have engaged in one scandal after the other. It tells you the quality of decision making the man that we voted for 4 years ago has brought to the table”.
However, Yaw Buaben Asamoa- NPP Communications Director & MP for Adentan stated that contrary to the claims made by the SP that he has not been given the necessary resources for efficient delivery of his mandate, the president has given the SP all the support he required to establish a working institution.
“Martin has been given money, he has been given clearance to hire people, he hasn’t been denied that. So, he hasn’t been denied the institutional fundamentals that will tell you that the interference is of a substantial nature. This interference that he is referring to now appeared to be a preserve for the president to enforce some level of basic legal rules”.
According to him, the NPP has been able to partner with the relevant institutions to establish a unique office for prosecution. He, however, pointed out that having the office is one thing, and having a person credible enough to head it is another.
“I believe the president in all sincerity appointed Martin because at the time Martin had the biggest hallow in terms of anti-corruption fight and the attorney general who had helped the government fight courses that we believe should not have been fought by an attorney general”.
According to him, to have an opponent to be in charge of such an office means that the president is committed to the fight against corruption. “Nobody can control Martin”.
According to him, whatever the level of interference there was, Martin has the legal backing to fall on. “He walked away from an opportunity to cement that independence.
“Because if you get the president interfering and you can demonstrate to the world that the president is interfering, why then do you walk away. Tell the president that you are interfering, tell the world that the president is interfering, and use your power to do the work you are to do”.
