General News of Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Source: joyonline

Prosecute officials involved in Waterville saga - Akomea

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Director of Communications, Nana Akomea, has challenged the government to as a matter of urgency prosecute officials involved in the Waterville scandal if it is committed to fighting the canker.

He said such "naked thievery" on the part of government officials must not be swept under the carpet.

Nana Akomea’s comment comes after former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Martin Amidu won a landmark case against Waterville Holdings Ltd.

The Supreme Court by a unanimous decision ordered Waterville Holdings to return to the state over €40 million it obtained illegally arising out of claims it brought against the state in 2009.

Martin Amidu, affectionately called Citizen Vigilante, has since been hailed for helping retrieve monies paid illegally as judgement debts.

On Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme on Monday, Nana Akomea also praised Mr. Amidu for exposing what he described as cancerous corruption eating up the Mahama-led administration.

According to him, it is not a mere coincidence that Martin Amidu, the only Minister who was fighting corruption in government, got sacked.

"Amidu, the only Minister dismissed in the last five years is the person who today every Ghanaian is holding up".

Akomea was skeptical about government’s ability to retrieve the money from Waterville because "the very people who will help government to retrieve the money are the same people who were defending Waterville and Woyome".

The NPP man stated that the Waterville-Woyome scandal was a deliberate plan by the government to loot from the state coffers.

Nana Akomea added that if the government wants to exonerate itself from this "disgraceful act", it must prosecute all those officials involved in the payment of the money.

"If you [government] are serious and believe in good governance, the officials who are culpable in this gargantuan lost of money should be prosecuted," Nana Akomea maintained. "Let them go and show in court that they acted in good faith".