The immediate past Special Prosecutor, Dr Martin Amidu has debunked claims purporting that lack of budgetary allocations or failure to pay salaries was the reason for his resignation.
Addressing issues in the President’s response in a 27 page letter, he noted that, changing the public perception about he receiving a fat salary, was what led him into explaining that, his appointment letter and all other benefits came two years after his appointment.
He further said that, The President’s directives that creates the impression that he resigned because of non-payment of salaries is plainly false upon any reading of his resignation letter.
“I cannot find the paragraph based on which the President directed and instructed you to write that I had complained about lack of budgetary allocation as a reason for my resignation except to believe that the President is intent on bringing my integrity into disrepute because of my refusal of his demand to me on 1st November 2020 in his Office to shelve the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions report and allow him to deal with the matter by issuing a public statement on the way forward.
“The issuance of the President’s statement on the United Kingdom Jersey incorporated Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption assessment report on the night of 2nd November 2020 at around 21:00 Hours, after I had defied the manifestly unlawful orders of the President and published the full sixty-four (64) page report in the afternoon, supports my reason for resigning on account of the President’s interference in the performance of my duties as the Special Prosecutor in the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions in which the President himself was implicated.”
Touching on his claims of alleged failure by the President to his office, he posited that, he has never blamed the President for the failure to operationalize the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
“Presidents give instructions and they expect those responsible for carrying out those instructions to carry them out faithfully. I have always written in numerous letters that the Chief of Staff failed the President when she rented a three-bedroom residential accommodation with boys’ quarters as a transitional office for the Office of the Special Prosecutor. You have referred to the directives and instructions of the President to you to respond to me personally on my resignation from office which he had already accepted and to quote out of context from my letter as Special Prosecutor with reference number.”
Addressing the President’s response to the Agyapa deal, he stated that, his response creates the embarrassing impression that neither the President nor his Secretary have read the full sixty-four (64) page Agyapa report to be able to understand that it contains very serious suspected corruption and corruption-related offences for which he intended to open full investigations.
“If the President and you had found the time to read the full Agyapa Royalties Transaction anti-corruption assessment report you would not have relied on the conclusions and observations like lazy lawyers relying on facts and holding in a published law report in making false and frivolous character assassination attacks on my integrity for cheap political point scoring. I shudder to think of the impression being created to the domestic and international community that this dear country of ours, Ghana, is now being run on autopilot.”
