General News of Friday, 20 January 2012

Source: GNA

SODAG congratulates President Mills for dismissing Mr Amidu

Accra, Jan 20, GNA - The Social Democratic Alliance- Ghana (SODAG), has congratulated President John Evans Atta Mills for taking a bold decision to dismiss Mr Martin Amidu former Minister for Justice and Attorney- General from his Government.

A statement signed by the Mr Shaibu M.Shamsu President of SODAG, copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the group expressed its solidarity with the President for the decision, which send a relevant signal to all his ministers.

It said SODAG believed that the action of the President was in the interest of good governance, which demonstrated his commitment to values political principles.

It said “in our view the pronouncement of the former Attorney General to the effect that he was privy to some members of Prof Mills’ Government, who were corrupt were unfortunate and undeserving of a member of the NDC government to the extent that he was not able to substantiate his allegation gives reason to justify his dismissal.”

The statement said the dismissal of Mr Amidu was long overdue, in so far as the NDC wanted to demonstrate to the world that it does not countenance tattlers aimed at denting the good image of the Government and create disaffection among the electorates.

It said SODAG acknowledged the unique leadership style of the President in the manner in which he kept his composure in handling both the Mr Amidu case and its antecedents.

The statement said the latitude given to Mr Amidu to vindicate himself by mentioning names of those he perceived to be corrupt in the Government, demonstrated the President’s resolve to expose corruption without discrimination or basis.

It commended the President for the position he took on the Woyome saga “the directive, which seeks to compel some members of the erstwhile NPP administration to appear before the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) must be enforced, because it was meant to help unravel the mystery surrounding the loss of 52 million Ghana Cedis, and further take appropriate steps to retrieve the said amount for the State.”

It said “it is significant to note that, the offerings of justice system are not the preserve of any political party, neither is it a gagging tool for a section of the society. In this vein, we wish to call on the president, as a matter of fairness and equity, to compel the members of the defunct NPP government to appear before the EOCO as soon as possible, so that the hypocrisy of their propagandist will be exposed. Again just as the sledge had fallen on Amidu, it should fall on any member of the society, irrespective of his or her political affiliation, so that we avoid the perception of negative discrimination against our own members.”