Amid controversy, Ghana’s Special Prosecutor quits

Amid controversy, Ghana’s Special Prosecutor quits

By John Eche

Amid controversy, Ghana’s Special Prosecutor and lead driver of the nation’s anti-corruption war, Mr. Martin Amidu has thrown in the towel.

Amidu, a well-regarded former Attorney-General of Ghana made the disclosure himself after turning in a formal letter to Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo. He thereafter penned a second explanatory letter for the benefit of the public and which was then made available to the press.

The letter, which revealed that all had indeed not been well between the Special Prosecutor and the administration stated inter alia:

‘This is to inform the public that I resigned from my position as the Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Special Prosecutor with immediate effect upon the submission of my letter of resignation with reference number OSP/2/AM/14 dated November 16, 2020, which was received at the Office of the President at 15:15 HRS this afternoon,” he said in his letter to the President.

“I should not ordinarily be announcing my resignation to the public myself but the traumatic experience I went through from October 20, 2020, to November 2, 2020, when I conveyed in a 13-page letter the conclusions and observations on the analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption assessment on the Report On Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions and Other Matters Related Thereto to the President as Chairman of the National Security Council cautions against not bringing my resignation as the Special Prosecutor with immediate to the notice of the Ghanaian public and the world,”

“In undertaking the analysis of the risk of prevention of corruption and anti-corruption assessment I sincerely believed that I was executing an independent mandate under the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Act, 2017 (Act 959) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L. I. 2374).

“The reaction I received for daring to produce the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption report convinces me beyond any reasonable doubt that I was not intended to exercise any independence as the Special Prosecutor in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and recovery of assets of corruption. My position as the Special Prosecutor has consequently become clearly untenable.”

Amidu also revealed that despite hat should have been the practice, his appointment letter was not received by him until February 5, 2020, almost two years after my appointment.

“The copy addressees made no efforts to honour any of the conditions of appointment in terms of emoluments and benefits of the appointment ever since my warrant of appointment was issued on February 23, 2018 to the date of my letter of resignation.

“I accepted the offer on January 10, 2018, to be nominated to be Special Prosecutor because Mr President and Ghanaians knew I have been an anti-corruption crusader all my life and not an anti-corruption entrepreneur.

“This explains why I have never put the emoluments and benefits of the Office as central to my commitment and my passion for the establishment of an independent, effective, efficient and impartial anti-corruption Office of the Special Prosecutor before the end of the first term of Mr President. This has not been possible for several reasons,” he  disclosed.

He then went into a closing run to bring home his point.

“Fear is the enemy of change and I am prepared from the vacuum created on November 12, 2020, to meet the threats of my demise as the price to pay for serving my country without fear or favour affection or ill will”

“I am grateful to every Ghanaian for both the support and criticisms during my tenure. When the real facts of my tenure become well known to the public in the future, history may judge me kindly. Ghana First,” the maverick lawyer concluded.

President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana