Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has warned current and former political office holders who abused or are abusing their office for financial gains that he will not spare them.
“My duty is not primarily to prosecute corruption but above all to prevent it. I am satisfied that my collaboration with the Auditor-General and the Minister of Finance have and are yielding preventive actions and results even before the Office fully takes off. As for those who have already looted or are now looting or intend to do so, I will soon catch up with them. That is why the Office of the Special Prosecutor issued the last warning pointing to its powers of enforcement but regrettably inexperienced lawyers and others who did not make a thorough reading of the statement refused or failed to grasp its real import resulting in their fruitless labour in trying to remind me with my vast experience and years as a lawyer of the very powers I had already clearly referred to in the statement,” Amidu wrote in his latest epistle.
Responding to claims by the NDC General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia that the party warned him against accepting the Special Prosecutor job, Amidu fumed “When I was invited to see the President, I did not know why he had sent for me until I answered his call and he announced his intentions. I eventually accepted his proposal on the agreed terms that I would have a free hand to operate without any political interference.
“I now have no option than to be convinced that Mr Nketia might have been hallucinating when he granted his interview that was subsequently published online. Mr Nketia, if he was not hallucinating, knew that he was deliberately manufacturing fake news and lying through his teeth to simply to satisfy his political constituency. How could he advise and warn me a lawyer of more than 38 years standing with vast public office experience at the time, of the efficacy of the law when I had already accepted the offer” .
Amidu also served notice to politicians seeking to see him resign from office to forget it as it won’t happen.
Below are details of the statement
I read in the Ghana
Web a publication on 17th July 2019 attributed to Mr. Asiedu Nketia, in which
he was alleged to have said that he “personally warned” me, Martin Amidu,
“against taking up the job of Special Prosecutor because the laws that
established the office does not give him the needed powers to work
effectively.”
As a student of and a professional conflict resolution practitioner, I decided
to ignore the allegations attributed to his fulminations as fake news because
what was allegedly attributed to him never took place between us or the party
before my nomination, approval and appointment by the President as the Special
Prosecutor.
But when I read the printed copy of the same publication of 17th July 2019 from
Ghana Web at home days later in detail, I realized that the source of the story
was abcnewsgh.com, and lo and behold, Mr. Nketia was quoted as saying that:
‘“We told him, we warned him. I told him that Martin you are a brother and a
comrade, the laws that established this office cannot make you work
effectively. They are just deceiving you. It will all amount to nothing; they
just want to destroy your name. We said it he did not listen” Asiedu Nketia
said in an interview monitored by ABC News.’
I had to find the forum for the interview which I eventually found on
peacefmonline of 17th July 2019 another version of the story which also
contained the audio recording of the interview on Okay FM in Akan. Neat FM also
carried the same interview in Akan. I could not believe my ears that a General
Secretary of a political party who under the 1992 Constitution is a public
officer would hallucinate and lie through his teeth to the public he serves,
just to bring my name and reputation into disrepute before right thinking members
of the society.
I never consulted any person or political party before meeting the President on
10th January 2018 and accepting my nomination to be put forward for approval as
Special Prosecutor. When I was invited to see the President, I did not know why
he had sent for me until I answered his call and he announced his intentions. I
eventually accepted his proposal on the agreed terms that I would have a free
hand to operate without any political interference.
I now have no option than to be convinced that Mr. Nketia might have been
hallucinating when he granted his interview that was subsequently published
online. Mr. Nketia, if he was not hallucinating, knew that he was deliberately
manufacturing fake news and lying through his teeth to simply satisfy his
political constituency. How could he advise and warn me a lawyer of more than
38 years standing with vast public office experience at the time, of the
efficacy of the law when I had already accepted the offer.
But common sense will prompt any reasonable person who witnessed the unfolding
political events in this country before and immediately after the year 2016 to
revisit them to refresh his or her memory. It will then be recollected as no
secret, when one does this as a reasonable person, that there was no way Mr.
Asiedu Nketia or the NDC could have spoken to me or warned me against accepting
the offer to be Special Prosecutor from the President because I was not on such
speaking terms with him or them during that period. Just visit my website and
establish the facts for yourself: martinamidu.com.
Some members of the party’s Functional Executive Committee at the time
attempted through surrogates to suspend and dismiss me from the NDC by claiming
to bring disciplinary action against me for alleged misconduct. I raised
preliminary objections to the charges in a letter addressed to the General
Secretary by EMS when I read them in the media on the grounds that I had not
been a paid up member of the NDC since I left office in January 2012 and could not
per their Constitution be a member subject to discipline by them.
Mr. Nketia never replied to my objections and they could not find me to serve
their so-called disciplinary charges. I insisted that whether they liked it or
not I was a foundation member of the original NDC which the new NDC of 2016
couldn’t take from me.
Anybody who wants further evidence and proof that Mr. Asiedu Nketia might have
hallucinated or might be an irredeemable liar should Google or go to the
websites indicated in some of the following on what he and the NDC said on or
around 6th February 2018 about my nomination that proves his hallucination
and/or lies and the fake news:
(1) Don’t Use Special Prosecutor To Witch-Hunt Us-NDC To Amidu –
ghheadlines.com -Ultimate-FM may have also carried a voice interview;
(2) Vetting Amidu: NDC Warns Parliament- ghananewsonline.com.gh;
(3) Amidu is a hypocrite for accepting Special Prosecutor job – Asiedu Nketia;
(4) Tainted Amidu is a fine lawyer but campaigned for NPP – Ayine (Myjoyonline.com)
and
(5) Akuffo-Addo’s Special Prosecutor will witch-hunt NDC Members – Ayine.
Common sense will tell any reasonable person that there is no way Asiedu Nketia
or the NDC could have spoken to me or warned me because I was not on such
speaking terms with him or them.
Nonetheless, I was surprised that after my nomination and before, during, and
after my approval and appointment some of the executive members boldly sent me
text messages of congratulations and support on the quiet.
I am not surprised that the political elite on both sides of the political
divide wish I resigned to enable them either to spend their looted public purse
in peace or be able to loot their share now that they have climbed on the back
of the President to power.
Is it any surprise that Ghana Web of 20th July 2019 republished a fake news
story by a so-called ghanacrusader.com stating that I have engaged in a meeting
or series of meetings with some Member of their Council of Elders in which I am
soon to resign to rejoin the NDC?
“Martin Amidu on his way out, set to rejoin NDC”, was the banner headline of
the Ghana Crusader. There is a concerted bi-partisan effort of the political
elite who disagree with the President’s anti-corruption agenda to exert
pressure on me to resign so they can be free to keep their loot or loot the
public purse which I have been appointed to protect by retrieving, preventing,
investigaing and prosecuting where needed.
Those who know my track record in public office over the decades know that no
Member of the Council of their Elders would dare speak to me on resigning my
public office as the Special Prosecutor. Anybody who approaches me to persuade
me to resign my office will be considered to be obstructing me in the
performance of my anti-corruption duties as the Special Prosecutor. This time
the Office of the Special Prosecutor will handle the matter by itself and not
farmed it out to another law enforcement office so that the case will also lie
fallow again like the previous widely published complaint and complaint
statement of obstruction I lodged for investigation.
The concerted efforts by the political elite to distract me from the duties of
my office with calls for me to resign will not move me to abandon the
electorate who made the establishment of the Office possible. I also know that
there are lots of people in both the NDC and the NPP who would be too happy to
hear that I have resigned or been removed from office. I know further that when
the President brought up my nomination he faced serious opposition from his
own, just like the Asiedu Nketias of the other side also did, but he insisted
he wanted an impartial person like me for the job. Watch the TV news on the
various stations on 4th June 2019 and you will see the number of NPP MPs who
opposed any prosecution of any Member of Parliament for corruption. I have
written already on the bi-partisan position of the Leadership of an NPP
Majority Parliament under a Pastor Speaker.
My duty is not primarily to prosecute corruption but above all to prevent it. I
am satisfied that my collaboration with the Auditor-General and the Minister of
Finance have and are yielding preventive actions and results even before the
Office fully takes off. As for those who have already looted or are now looting
or intend to do so, I will soon catch up with them. That is why the Office of
the Special Prosecutor issued the last warning pointing to its powers of
enforcement but regrettably inexperienced lawyers and others who did not make a
thorough reading of the statement refused or failed to grasp its real import
resulting in their fruitless labour in trying to remind me with my vast
experience and years as a lawyer of the very powers I had already clearly
referred to in the statement.
Every sincere anti-corruption crusader acting rationally can assess
independently the evidence and the forces that are against the Special
Prosecutor’s appointment and continued stay in office because they pay only lip
service to the fight against the pervasive canker of corruption in Ghana. Anti-corruption
crusaders can easily see the political elite who put Ghana Last instead of
Ghana First as they swore to do under the Constitution. The knowledge that I
cannot be compromised in this anti-corruption war is what instills fear in the
opponents of exposing corruption, the people who want to see my back through
resignation or removal.
I will continue to defend the Constitution and will not keep quiet. I will
write about those protecting the practitioners of corruption so that the public
will be adequately informed to support the Office when it catches up with them.
I will continue to perform the duties of my Office in accordance with the
Constitution and the law, without fear or favour affection or ill will, no
matter who is suspected of committing the crime of corruption under my watch.
Nobody is going to push or make me jump from the challenges of fighting public
office corruption unless the Supreme Court declares the provisions of the Act
under which I was appointed unconstitutional, I am impeached or I become
convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the mutual promises and undertakings
made with me at my nomination to fight the canker of corruption were not
intended to be actualized in practice.