A-G Amidu Basking In NPP Praise

Ghana’s Attorney General and minister of Justice, Mr Martin Amidu, has become the toast of New Patriotic Party’s ( NPP) brand of politics presently since he issued his infamous ‘coolheaded’ press statement that sought to rundown the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

He has since been basting in glory with varied accolades and praises being showed on him by notable members of the opposition NPP, who The ‘coolheaded’ press release, in which he indicted an unnamed fellow cabinet minister in the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government and spewed venom on the press sympathetic to the NDC by calling them criminals, rented, gullible and inexperienced, has no doubt given a shot in the arm of the opposition NPP, which has up till now had its back to the wall as far as corruption and injustice in the governance system of this country is concerned. The NPP is hailing Mr. Martin Amidu as a hero for making unsubstantiated allegations he blazingly piled up in a recent press statement in response to pressure from the press sympathetic to the NDC, which is questioning the Attorney General’s sincerity to the course of justice as promised by the NDC in its 2008 elections manifesto.

Notable NPP persons such as Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, Hon. P. C. Appiah Ofori, NPP chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamtey among others including members of NPP communications team, the NPP press including New Crusading Guide, New Statesman, Daily Guide and NPP serial callers are in unison praising the Attorney General who is expected to ensure that cases such as the Ya Na’s Murder, Issa Mobila’s murder, Rokko Frimpong’s murder among others are dealt with according to the manifesto pledge of the NDC, whose government he serves in as Attorney General. Shockingly enough, Mr Martin Amidu, after being brought in to salvage a seeming dire situation prevailing under the tenure of his predecessor, Madame Betty Mould-Iddrisu had this to state in his ‘coolheaded’ press statement:

“I wish to conclude in this press statement by stating that there is not a single criminal docket against any high political operative of the NPP which has been ready for prosecution in the Director of Public Prosecution’s office that I have failed or refused to prosecute as that Minister of State and the gullible NDC press want the whole world to believe. Fairness requires that NDC criminals be prosecuted by me as well, as an independent and impartial Attorney-General, albeit appointed by the NDC Government.”

As is the case now, Mr. Martin Amidu has settled for the latter. He is vigorously pursuing NDC persons as against alleged NPP wrongdoers. A clear case in point is the so-called Woyome affair. A-G Martin Amidu also stated in his press release that “As for the section of the rented NDC press calling for my removal or dismissal from office, I wish to assure them that I never begged to be appointed Attorney-General: I opposed it on four separate occasions. That criminal section of the NDC press should be assured that I am ready, able and willing for that eventuality. The inescapable fact is that at the end of the day truth will prevail over falsehood in the Republic of Ghana” Mr. Amidu who described himself as a man of “sufficient integrity and experience as a Ghanaian and a legal practitioner” made the pedestrian claim that “hard core criminals in our society today have made it a habit to hold paid membership cards of major political parties in the republic as an unconstitutional insurance against crime and criminal prosecutions.”

The ‘coolheaded’ A-G also claimed that the ‘attacks’ against him “were planned by a colleague Minister of State, who perceived that my integrity and professionalism as a lawyer was a threat to the concealment of gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana in which they might be implicated.”

But a civil society group, the Forum for Governance and Justice (FGJ) is demanding from the newfound friend of the NPP to substantiate his wild claims and name “to name names in relation to claims he made in a recent press statement suggesting that he knows a colleague Minister as well as “hardcore criminals” working against the interest of the state.”

“As an organisation whose mission is to promote and protect the right of the citizenry to justice and to improve governance in Ghana, the Forum has no choice but to implore the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Ghana to initiate the processes needed to prosecute all who have committed crimes and/or are working to cover up crimes (small, big, huge, or gigantic) against the good people of Ghana,” FGJ stated in a press release on Tuesday.

FGJ stated that “The Forum further wishes to implore the Attorney General to expose and prosecute the ”hard core criminals” in our society who have made it a habit to hold paid membership cards of major political parties in the republic as an unconstitutional insurance against crime and criminal prosecutions.” The statement also said “It is the position of the Forum that as the Chief Prosecutor of the State, the Attorney General can and should enhance the fight against corruption and criminality by revealing the nature of the gargantuan crimes he noted in his statement as well as the identity of the colleague Minister of State, who perceived that his integrity and professionalism as a lawyer was a threat to the concealment of gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana in which the unnamed Minister might be implicated.”

President Mills has reportedly demanded from Mr Martin Amidu a substantiation of the allegations or resign. But the obviously rampageous A-G, who seems to be emboldened by the overwhelming support he is getting from the opposition NPP has reportedly called the bluff of the President, saying he would not resign, even though he has declined to show any proof of his claims.

President Mills thus decisively cracked the whip and Martin Amidu was fired yesterday.