General News of Friday, 21 August 2020

Source: theheraldghana.com

John Mahama cries for ‘tied’ Martin Amidu

Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has questioned the fairness and effectiveness of the Special Prosecutor in handling corruption cases, especially those that involve officials of the Akufo-Addo government.

According to the former president, the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has had his hands tied and thus prevented from investigating and prosecuting any official in the Akufo-Addo government caught up in corruption.

"There are cases at the office of the special prosecutor but they have tied his hand, he can't investigate them, they have stopped him, as long as he is an NPP person, he can't do anything", he cried.

Addressing supporters of the NDC at Dzodze as part of his four-day tour of the Volta Region, Mr Mahama questioned the motive behind the Akufo-Addo government's decision to pass the "controversial agreement" with Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited.

He saluted the NDC Minority in Parliament for drawing attention to the elevated risk in placing an ostensible second Sovereign Wealth Fund in a haven.

He is appalled that, despite the Minority in Parliament raising serious questions over the deal, their counterpart in the majority, went ahead to pass it.

He pointed out that the deal is shrouded in secrecy, as individuals and shareholders behind the company are still unknown to Ghanaians.

"Up till now they have not disclosed the shareholders of the company, who are behind the company and any time there is corruption, the President clears them", he added.

Mr Mahama also questioned the prudence of the government's decision to mortgage Ghana's mineral royalties over such a long period of years when it has only four months left to be in the office, despite the genuine concerns raised by the Minority.

"And for a responsible government, why should you go and invest in an offshore tax haven, where we know that is where the fraudulent transaction takes place?" he quizzed.

Mr Mahama however assured Ghanaians not to lose hope in the fight against corruption, as the new NDC government will investigate all outstanding corruption cases.

"When NDC comes to power, we will investigate all outstanding corruption cases and we are not going to prosecute only our opponent, we will caution our ministers and everybody because if you indulge in corruption, we won't wait for another government to prosecute, we will prosecute you ourselves," he warned.

Mr Amidu has been very busy chasing ex-President Mahama and his brother Samuel Mahama over the Airbus military aircrafts matter saying the two brothers had been involved in a case of bribery.

He has also been in court with the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central Mahama Ayariga and six others.

The Special Prosecutor has two different cases against the Bawku Central legislator; one involving the lawmaker's use of a parliamentary loan approved for the purchase of a V8 vehicle for official use and the other over an ambulance he purchased for the Bawku Municipal Assembly.

There have been calls on Mr Amidu to investigate the PDS scandal as well as the Charles Bissue galamsey fraud investigation by Tiger Eye PI, the missing excavators, KelniGVG saga among other cases of corruption involving officials of the Akufo-Addo regime, but this is yet to happen.