The United Progressive Party, UPP, has advised The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu to sit up and work and stop barking unnecessarily.
A statement signed by the acting General Secretary of the party Bukari Kuoru said Martin Amidu has had enough barking, raving and ranting and that its time for him to begin biting.
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STATEMENT
When the issue of the Special Prosecutor
broke, it became a hot issue and we were all excited that we finally
have a president who is bold enough to call the shots and retrieve the
stolen tax payer’s money. Three years down the line the SP looks like a circus
show with Martin Amidu as the circus master. One thing is clear, both the NPP
and the NDC are one and the same, and they do not have what it takes to stamp
out this corruption that is rearing its ugly head in every sphere of the
Ghanaian live and causing serious rot to the very fabric of our beautiful
Ghanaian society. Example in the case of President Mahama, there was the ford
saga and guinea fowls flying to Burkina Faso. Are we wasting our tax
payer’s money on the SP? Is he doing his job? Or he is just a puppet on a
strand? Why are we not seeing more prosecutions as the government has allocated
almost 200m of the tax payers money to the office of the SP?.
The UPP interrogated the letter that sounds like a lamentation as in the case
of political interference. Mr. Martin Amidu in one breath raises genuine
concerns and in the same breadth is talking too much instead of doing too much.
But these are what we in the UPP think should be done after reading the
Article:
1. Public education about the OSP: the general public does not seem to understand
fully the entire process of setting up the OSP, equipping it and running it at
the speed with which it should run. The OSP is not captain planet that just
grants wishes. It takes time for the office to achieve all the corrupt cases in
this country.
2. Martin Amidu should concentrate so much on laying the foundation of the
office and getting past the hurdles put in by public servants. In the article
he complains bitterly about interference of public and political actors and
their refusal to make available information needed by the SP. In this same
article he talks about the statutory powers granted to him that enables him do
his work without any interference. My question is why complain too much when
you have the law at your disposal. You can effect the Special powers given to
you to acquire any information from any institution you want and even take the
person to court without prior information. Stop the barking and do the biting.
3. The OSP was set up for political witch hunt to specifically target a
particular regime and score political points: another angle from which may have
caused these lamentations maybe because the government and ruling party are
intentionally frustrating his efforts because the SP is biting and chewing on
the wrong meats. The SP was probably set up as a mechanism to witch hunt
political opponents but they soon realize that the very snake they have reared
is beginning to swallow them up too. Why are the politicians interfering when
they know the SP is free of any political interference? The SP even further
stated that “it’s either they want to set up the OSP or they don’t”.
Either ways you have the Special powers to drag them to court Mr. Special
Prosecutor. Exhaust that privilege before whining for its good 180 million of
the tax payer’s money that is used to fund his office. That money could be used
to build more roads, bought more beds, build more schools for the President’s
laudable free SHS programme and operationalised the Legon Hospital among
others.
4. He should crack the whip as the master of this circus as he has been given
significant statutory powers: on one hand, I think Mr. Martin Alamisi Amidu has
all he needs to do his work. He has all the Special powers and supports of the
major institutions I.e the finance ministry, the attorney general, EOCO etc. He
can either keep working or keep quiet because we Ghanaians expect a lot from
him other than whining and complaining. Crack the whip.
Here’s what the Government of the United Progressive Party(UPP) will do:
1.The UPP will intensify public education. Fighting Corruption is a civic and
collective responsibility and we must all help to fight it.
2. Set aside specific courts purposefully for the prosecution of corruption.
3. Enforce and apply the law.
4. Separate the attorney general from ministry of justice.
5. Employ more state prosecutors to help in the fight of corruption and help
the citizenry fight for justice.
Long live Ghana
Long live the UPP
Bukari Kuoru
General Secretary (Ag.)
