General News of Thursday, 11 October 2012

Source: The Tide

Martin Amidu in bribery scandal; Journalist, banker involved

Three days after the release of the latest in the series of epistles on alleged corrupt deals in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Martin Amidu, former Attorney General and Minister for justice has been linked to a deal that smacks of corrupt and betrayal of the very vices he had sought to combat in government.

A 45-minute undercover video footage in possession of The Tide's Intelligence Unit has exposed Martin Amidu compromising his anti-corruption crusade for a substantial amount of cash ostensibly to further embarrass the NDC of which he is a founding member and a senior cadre.

Among those captured in the video are a well-known senior journalist, a Banker and Investment Consultant, and two ladies believed to be members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Another scene captured on the video suggests Martin Amidu involved in an accident at a suburb of Accra and a taxi driver collecting huge sums of money from Martin Amidu apparently to go and repair his car, which Amidu had hit.

The Tide's investigations into this episode revealed shocking disclosures that will be featured in our next editions.

Yesterday at exactly 4. 25 p. m., The Tide's Deputy Editor, David Miezah sought an interview with Hon. Martin Amidu through a text message on his MTN phone but his response was that he does not know what The Tide's reporter was talking about.

The text message read thus, Good day Mr. Amidu. Please we have in our possession videotape capturing you giving money to a taxi driver after you hit his car. Please, can you confirm this and tell us what really happened. From The Tide Newspaper.

At 4: 30 pm, Mr. Martin Amidu responded in a text message. I do not know what you are talking about.

11 minutes later Mr. Martin Amidu sent The Tide another text message seeking to know if the paper was manufacturing politically motivated stories against him.

But The Tide's intelligence can confirm that the video in its possession was captured at a popular restaurant at Labone in Accra where some journalists had been using as a meeting place for the past two decades and Mr. Martin Amidu's meeting with those personalties there raises many questions that can only be objectively answered by The Tide.

Mr. Martin A.B.K. Amidu is the immediate past Attorney General and Minister for Justice from January 2012. He is the man who introduced the word 'gargantuan' and 'rented press' into the lexicon of Ghanaian politics when he began a crusade to expose certain deals in government.

He served as the Deputy Attorney General for about the last four years of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).