Ghana: Martin Amidu Appointed As first Independent Prosecutor

From (l-r), Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Independent Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, President, and Attorney General Gloria Akuffo

Accra, January 11, 2018//-Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed citizen vigilante, Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor for the newly created office of the Independent Prosecutor.

Quoting the law that set up the office of the special prosecutor, the president said he has accepted the choice of the Attorney General and will present to Parliament, the name of Martin Amidu for consideration.

In a brief announcement at the Flagstaff House, Thursday, the president commended the public spiritedness of the man widely acclaimed as an anti-corruption crusader, a bulwark in the fight against corruption.

He had earlier religiously quoted justices of the Supreme Court who commended Martin Amidu for his fight against corruption and wanton dissipation of public funds.

Just as the justices, “I can vouch for his spiritedness,” the president said of the man who had been on the opposite side in politics and in the court of law.

If approved by Parliament, and certainly will, given the number of the NPP seats in Parliament, Martin Amidu will stay in office as the Independent Prosecutor for the next seven years.

A former vice presidential candidate for the opposition NDC, the longest serving Deputy and Attorney General within the same party when it was in government, Martin Amidu has carved a niche for himself as a fearless crusader in the fight against corruption.

In Martin Amidu is a double-edged sword for some members of the NDC whom he had fallen out of favour with and also to some members of the NPP who are likely to engage in misappropriation of funds.

He had, time without number stated in his epistles that his only allegiance is for the people of Ghana and not to any party.

The citizen vigilante was sacked as Attorney General during the tenure of the late president John Atta Mills but went on as a private citizen to win a landmark judgment debt case involving business man Alfred Woyome.

For a case that was pending at the High Court with no hope of getting anywhere, Amidu escalated the case to the Supreme Court as a private citizen and eventually won the case.

The court ruled that the ¢51 million cedis paid to Woyome in 2010 in the name of judgement debt was fraudulently done and instructed Woyome to pay back the amount.

The state has since been following up on it, and the man who began it all will certainly have the last bite of the Woyome cherry.

The president in announcing the appointment said the setting up of the independent prosecutor is a fulfillment of a long-held promise to the people of Ghana to create an independent office of a special prosecutor to help in fighting corruption.

He hoped Martin Amidu will do justice in fighting corruption in the country.

He admitted the task ahead of Amidu is “broad and challenging” but was hopeful he will be able to meet the demands of the office.

Myjoyonline

 

 

 

 

 

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