Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Constituency, Mr Isaac Adongo, has played up the legal credentials of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), explaining that the recent appointment of one of its members, Mr Martin Amidu, as Special Prosecutor (SP), amounted to a lower division football team signing a world-class player from a top-flight club.

He said his appointment by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) showed that the NDC was a party of superstars that can be relied upon to properly prosecute the development agenda of the country

“We were told that Mr Amidu is such a stature that by his nomination, he had finished fighting corruption. So, what did President Jerry Rawlings, the man who found Mr Amidu many years ago when he was still a brilliant young man, do?

“The man who found him couldn’t fight corruption to the end. The man who made him Attorney General (President Atta-Mills), couldn’t fight corruption to the end but the man who suddenly found him in 2018 after winning power is the one who has succeeded in fighting corruption and should be praised,” he asked at forum organised by pro-NDC group, Coalition for Restoration (CFR).

It was under the theme: ‘The True State of the Nation’ and meant to give the panellists the opportunity to present the NDC’s perspective on the state of affairs in the country.

Making preliminary comments prior to the start of his presentation, which centred on the economy, Mr Adongo said the government’s posture after the appointment of the Mr Amidu as SP it had won the fight against corruption.

“But I want to ask a simple question; if you go to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid and take him to Stoke City and he comes to play with average players and you say you have won? Clearly, this man will be lost in the midst of mediocre.

“So, they (NPP) came to NDC and signed one of our superstars, forgetting that for one Martin Amidu, we have thousands of them,” he said to applause.

“Unfortunately, Mr Amidu is going to work with a team that is mediocre.

“If you sign me from Real Madrid to Stoke City, I may just go for the money but not trophies because there, there, I will be a one-man team. That is what is going to happen at the Attorney General’s Department; one superstar from the NDC, who will be meeting those superstars he left behind,” he added.

Mr Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, was appointed SP by President Nana Akufo-Addo, in January and subsequently approved by Parliament in February.

He takes office as the first person as part of a range of measures by the government to help fight misappropriation of public funds.