The former Special Prosecutor for corruption in Ghana, Martin Amidu has described the president, Nana Akufo Addo as “mother serpent of corruption.”
Amidu resigned on November 16, 2020 saying in his letter to Ghana’s President that “The one condition upon which I accepted to be nominated as the Special Prosecutor when you invited me to your Office on 10th January 2018 was your firm promise to me that you will respect and ensure same by your Government for my independence and freedom of action as the Special Prosecutor.”
Mr. Amidu believed he wasn’t given that freedom and independence to operate forcing him to exit.
In his resignation letter Amidu said the public back-lash that greeted his corruption risk assessment on a government sanctioned deal called the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions finally forced him to quit.
Amidu noted that “In undertaking the analysis of the risk of prevention of corruption and anti-corruption assessment I sincerely believed that I was executing an independent mandate under the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Act, 2017 (Act 959) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L. I. 2374).”
But the President responded strongly to discredit the former anti-corruption prosecutor, something Amidu deemed an attempt to tarnish his image.
On Friday in a 27 page response said Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo as a president who took the presidential “oath while looking like the innocent flower of anti-corruption but being the mother serpent of corruption under it.”
In 2018 President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo appointed Mr. Amidu as the country’s first ever special prosecutor whose prime duty will be to investigate and prosecute corrupt public officials.
The former attorney general was highly considered by many at the time to be very independent and a strong character.
But the same year of his appointment Mr. Amidu accused government officials of stifling his effort to fight corruption.
Martin Amidu is a member of Ghana’s opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), making the appointment at the time historic in a country where most appointments are made on partisan bases.
Source: Africafeeds.com
