Talkative Martin Amidu Reveals True Colours

The Special Prosecutor, Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu, has once again started churning out excuses for his failure, akin to what got him sacked from the John Evans Atta-Mills administration as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.

His current attitude, also confirms the long held position by operatives of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC), the National Democratic Congress (NDC) about his work ethics and lack of team work within an organization towards the attainment of a common objective.

This also perhaps, teaches the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which showered praises upon him and made him larger than life, a bitter lesson and a confirmation of the fact that “all that glitters is not gold”.

Mr Amidu, last week claimed ministers have refused to offer him the kind of support he requires to be able to deliver on his mandate as corruption buster.

“The present situation where critical ministries and agencies have failed even with our limited constraints or refused to produce public records on demand to aid the office in critical investigations, offences running into millions of cedis, clearly demonstrates that there is divergence between the president’s vision and that of some of his appointees.”

He expressed disgust at instances where state agencies expected to make available documents to fast track issues of fraud, have constantly failed to do so, describing it as a clear show of sabotage of President Akuffo-Addo’s commitment of reducing acts of corruption.

“You ask for information you can’t get it, you ask for docket, the docket cannot be produced. You ask a minister for a record, the record cannot be produced. How do you fight corruption when those appointed by the president who has a vision are not coordinating with the office of the special prosecutor to achieve his mandate? That is the challenge we have to face, he stressed adding “My reputation alone, not enough for this fight”

The special prosecutor, indicated that his track record alone cannot eradicate this canker that continues to bedevil the country.

“The success in the fight against corruption will depend on the extent to which the president’s vision is supported by his operatives. The personality and reputation of the Special Prosecutor cannot be a solution to a problem which has festered since independence”.

Several months on, the office is yet to be fully effective after the noise that greeted the appointment of the man affectionately called ‘Citizen Vigilante’, for his anti-corruption campaigns.

A visibly frustrated Special Prosecutor, said his office lacked the resources to deliver, and warned that the office, would not be able to fully discharge its duties, if the situation is not addressed soon.

“I am saying this for the public to understand that we have set up an office. We have to organize that office, have the requisite personnel. It does not take one day. The law says 90 days after the assumption of office of the Special Prosecutor, pursuant legislation must be enacted, but as I speak today, I have no legislation so I use my common sense.”

The lamentations of the anti-corruption crusader bemoaned at a National Audit Forum organised by the Ghana Audit Service in Accra, was simply replaying the scenario which led to his sensational dismissal in January 2012 by the late President Mills, whom he had earlier threatened to assault, when asked to prove allegation of corruption against a colleague minister.

Mr Amidu’s legal balance scale as Attorney General, were not even. It tilted favorably towards operatives of the NPP, making the apparatchiks of the NDC uncomfortable.

He had used the GH¢51.2 million judgement debt paid to businessman, Alfred Agbesi,Woyome, at the time of President Mills, to become the darling boy of the NPP, having claimed there was “gargantuan corruption” in that regime, and that in trying to punish people, some elements in that government, had rented a group of press houses to damage his reputation by calling him lazy.

This was after publications in The Informer, Daily Post, The Republic and the Daily Democrat newspapers with same caption, “A-G Martin Amidu Must Go! This became the NPP’s cliché; “rented press.”

Mr Amidu, upon taking over from Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu in 2011, as Attorney-General, refused to prosecute elements of the NPP, whose criminal dockets were in the department with several excuses.

While, officially accusing the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Police Criminal Investigations (CID), Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), as well as crack investigators at the National Security Secretariat of doing shoddy probes and building faulty dockets, he was privately telling friends he was not going to prosecute anyone connected to the NPP.

The then Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Miss Gladys Gertrude Aikins, also bore the brunt of Mr Amudi’s failures and lack of team work at the Attorney-General’s department, as the government had accused her of sabotage, having been appointed as DPP by the Kufuor administration.

Indeed, at the time Mr Amidu was sacked, over 12 top officials of the erstwhile Kufuor regime, including former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani, former Transport Minister, Richard Anane, Anthony Akoto Osei, former Food and Drug Board (FDB) boss, Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko, Sammy Crabbe among others, had their dockets gathering dust at the Attorney General’s Department for various crimes against the state.

The dockets covered investigations into cases like Ghana International Airlines (GIA), Australia House and Isofoton.

Others include; the Waterville case, Ghana Oil Palm Development Company Limited (GOPDC), GSTelecom among others, which could have put not less than twelve members of the former officers of Kufuor government behind bars to prove that all the shouts about corruption in the NPP government is real.

Some of the 12 people, whose names are available to The Herald, are currently serving as Ministers of State in the Akufo-Addo government, while others are Members of Parliament (MPs).

Most of them, had appeared before the CID, BNI and EOCO at various times for interrogation.

These dockets are still at the A-G’s department, while the current occupant of that Ministry, Gloria Akuffo, looks for operatives of the Mahama administration to prosecute for alleged wrongdoings.

Meanwhile, Madam Gloria Akuffo, has expressed surprise at the seeming frustration expressed by the Special Prosecutor over the level of cooperation he receives from the executive on his work.

Responding to the concerns in an interview with Starr News, the Attorney general, said all the issues raised by Mr Amidu, are already being addressed by the Chief of Staff.

“I have held meetings with him [Amidu] that requires sharing ideas about the goings on in the banking industry, we have shared ideas about how we should go about investigating and prosecuting it, there’s no time that he had sought to speak with me that I haven’t spoken to him.”

“There’s no breakdown,” she added.

On concerns over logistics, the attorney general said the process resourcing the special prosecutor’s office is ongoing since all the various procurement stages must be followed to the latter.

“I can’t get up and go and buy machines and put in the place and for that reason the Chief of Staff has taken the responsibility to see to it that these things are done. So if you begin to speak like that, it is as though the impression has been created that I have been virulent in my duty to set up that office. I’m saying that’s not the case,” she said.

“. . . if you begin to speak like that, it is as though the impression has been created that I have been virulent in my duty to set up that office. I’m saying that’s not the case,” she said.

Later, a deputy Attorney-General, Joseph D. Kpemka, disclosed on Multi TV channel on Joy News that there is already an ongoing process by the government to advance critical funds to the Office of the Special Prosecutor by next week.

He said the swift action is to quell misconception by a section of the public that there is a deliberate attempt to frustrate the work of the Special Prosecutor in the fight against corruption.

“Within this week and next, in terms of financial resources, something will be released. But long-term, as I have spoken about, adequate equipment are supposed to be made available, vehicles are supposed to be procured for the Office,” he said on PM Express on Thursday.

“There was no way that we could suddenly have acquired vehicles and offices and etc. before we went through the processes of passing the (Special Prosecutor’s) Bill into the law; we had to pass it into law then we can start the process of implementing it,” he explained.

Particularly, opposition NDC, has been using Mr Amidu’s concerns to taunt President Akufo-Addo.

A former presidential staffer and member of the opposition NDC, Kojo Adu- Asare, has urged Martin Amidu, to stop whining and focus on his job.

Speaking on Citi FM/Citi FM’s news analysis programme, “The Big Issue”last Saturday, Adu Asare, who is also a former MP for Adentan, said “I think Martin Amidu complains a lot and he talks too much. He should get to work.”

Mr Asare said Mr Amidu, should have envisioned some of these challenges before accepting to occupy the office.

“If he chose to take this job from the NPP then he should expect some of these things. He is not only supposed to go after political opponents but corrupt officials in the NPP government too. So if the government officials know this, they may not give out documents.”

Broadcaster and host of Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo”, Kwami Sefa Kayi, had also joined the call on Mr Amidu, asking him to resign if he thinks he cannot cope with the challenges in his line of duty.

According to Mr Sefa Kayi, affectionately called Chairman General, Mr Amidu understood the terms and conditions associated with his outfit before accepting to become Ghana’s Special Prosecutor; therefore he should tone down.

But Chairman General believes if Mr Amidu “feels he cannot do the work, he should just quit.He should stop work…If he thinks he cannot cope, he should stop work”, he said on his platform, last week.

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the National Peace Council, Prof. Seth Opuni Asiamah, had also said the Special Prosecutor, had no moral right to complain over lack of resources to deliver on his mandate.

Speaking to Ultimate FM’s Isaac Bediako, Prof. Opuni Asiamah, stated that Mr Amidu, must cough up the salaries he’s received from government ever since he assumed office for no work done.

“Mr Martin Amidu appears to believe that somebody must lay things down for him to be able to work, he knows it is not done that way. He knows how the system operates and therefore I do not expect that he thinks that everything should be put in place for him to be able to work. Having be put into office, it is now his job to ensure that the things he needs to work are available to him to work.

“But if you sit down or go on air meet press men and start bemoaning the fact that you don’t have resources and so on, to me that was not what we appointed you to do. For how many months has he been in office and has not been working, that is corruption.If I sat in my office and did not work and got paid certainly Mr.Amidu will take me to task and I expect that Ghanaians will take him to task if he does not deliver after the monies that have been given to him.”

A Deputy Chief of Staff, has cautioned critics accusing government of delaying and frustrating the Special Prosecutor from carrying out his responsibility not to cry when Martin Amidu, begins to crack the whip.

Abu Jinapor, insists such persons must remain consistent and not accuse government of witch-hunting when the Special Prosecutor, moves into full gear.