Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu
In statehood and diplomacy, tact and timing, restraint and tolerance are powerful ingredients; and the Executive normally has the last word in crucial matters – with the only check on him being the Supreme Court.
In this regard, while appointees may think differently or independently, they owe it as a matter of respect to consult the Executive when they find themselves in the situation the former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu claimed to have found himself, leading to his decision to resign.
Agyapa deal
As we would recall, processes leading to the Agyapa deal were initiated by the previous Mahama-led NDC government. It was aimed at strengthening the state to legally access massive revenue to fund critical development programmes.
When the New Patriotic Party administration took over, it saw some good in the initiative, but felt it needed to be enriched and given more flesh to create value chains and improve lives and livelihoods for the benefit of Ghana and Ghanaians.
As of today, nobody has raised contrary opinion about Agyapa being a potential scam like the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
Unfortunately, in the bid to avail itself of the processes to get the initiative off the ground, issues were raised by civil society and forces within the opposition NDC.
Executive intervention
It appeared, by some of the arguments, that sheer envy and politics were at the centre of the conversation, particularly from the front of opposition, who saw only private ‘benefit’ from private competent actors than the national benefit, citing cronyism.
The Executive, meaning well for Ghana and showing characteristic fair-mindedness, asked for the deal to be returned to Parliament. Afraid that it would lose the case in Parliament, the NDC resisted, resulting in a suspension of the deft deal.
Special Prosecutor’s invasion
This led to the Special Prosecutor expressing lawful interest in the case, to advise the government on matters of risk assessment, though the government by law was not duty-bound to swallow his advice.
Having automatic access to the Executive, we thought that he would have been diplomatic and open-minded in listening to the purely business angles of the initiative, while he made his point without being confrontational.
This was particularly important when the President had asked him to be tolerant enough to listen to the Finance Minister’s side of the story, so that he (President) would be advised fully on how to move the conversation forward in bringing all stakeholders on board.
That the SP failed to listen to his President to enable the two of them have a fair idea of the stakes does not, in our opinion, exposes a lack of tolerance and respect to the appointing authority.
Missed opportunity
We believe if the SP had been patient enough to have listened to the President, we would have had more information to enrich the conversation in enhancing the steps to review the document in the national interest.
A listening ear is an important ingredient in politics, especially in dealing with delicate and critical matters of the state. Most of the time, however, it takes time for such discussions to come public.
As we may understand in politics, being an independent body does not merely imply a constant clash in thought and idea or action and initiative. It also implies, in our view, a commitment to thinking through issues together in attaining national goals.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, in our view, missed an opportunity to help the nation deliver the anti-corruption fight and, particularly, the Agyapa deal using diplomacy and tact, instead of confrontation and braggadocio.
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