President Akufo-Addo and Mr Martin Amidu
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday accepted Mr Martin Amidu’s resignation as the Special Prosecutor.
A statement from the Presidency, signed by the Director of Communications, Mr Eugene Arhin, said President Akufo-Addo had received Mr Amidu’s resignation letter and accepted same.
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has taken note of the resignation from office of the Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin A.B.K Amidu, by letter dated Monday, 16th November 2020,” the statement said.
According to Mr Arhin, the President has also acknowledged other matters raised by Mr Amidu in his letter of resignation, “and the presidency will issue a detailed response to them shortly.”
The President also directed the Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, to contact Mr Amidu to resolve all outstanding matters following his resignation.
“President Akufo-Addo thanks Mr Martin Amidu for his service to the country, and wishes him well in his future endeavours,” the statement ended.
No interference
Meanwhile, the governing New Patriotic Party has said that, contrary to claims by Mr Amidu, no political office holder had interfered in the administration of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
A statement signed by the Communications Director of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, clarified that the former Special Prosecutor was given enough freedom to operate independently.
“Mr. Amidu has not resigned because any investigation of his has been interfered with by the Presidency or any member of the government. Since 2018, he has been offered all the room and support he needed by law and mandate and every money he has requested to set up an entirely new institution, which comes with its own challenges, and to operate the Office independently and efficiently. No political office holder has interfered in the administration of that Office.
The NPP noted that the actions of Mr Amidu, which appeared to impact both the incumbent and immediate past governments, “vindicates the wisdom of the mandate and powers of the Office which he occupied, an office hinged on the independence of thought and action.”
Corruption fight
According to the NPP, President Akufo-Addo has been forthright, sincere and honest in his conviction to fight against corruption.
The party added that the approach of the Office of Special Prosecutor, by way of an advisory assessment, is novel.
“For the NPP led government, the vindication of the President’s belief in the need for an independent office with sufficient power to act in the public realm, irrespective of status, implies major progress in fighting corruption. Not only is the OSP independent of all political influence, it is also capable of initiating its own actions.
“As the Special Prosecutor himself says in the report, ‘This is the first time an independent anti-corruption agency established by any Government in Ghana has undertaken an analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption risk assessment of the processes leading up to the approval by Parliament of Public Agreements as part of its statutory mandate. This has been made possible by the courage and commitment of H.E. the President of Ghana in redeeming the promise he made to Ghanaians when he was a presidential candidate of a political party to establish an independent anti-corruption statutory entity to make meaningful any real commitment to prevent and to fight corruption,” the statement noted.
It added: “The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) established this Office. The President ensured that in the teeth of strong opposition the Special Prosecutor was able to have his way to have included in the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374) the prevention of corruption regulations which to the best of my knowledge may be the first in Africa and meets international standards and best practices.’”
Referring to the quote made by Mr Amidu himself in his resignation letter, the NPP said the accusations made by the former Special Prosecutor were baseless.
“Where then is the accusation of ‘poodle’ affirmed? Our society, especially the political strata, needs to move away from merely shouting about who is the most corrupt and actually begin to fight corruption on a sustainable basis. League tabling corruption does not work. But the recitation and shouting loudest does not solve the political corruption problem of impunity that leads to blatant procurement and resource management issues,” Mr Buaben Asamoa said.
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