Agyapa deal: Why write to the President when you can prosecute Ofori-Atta, others? – Edudzi Tamakloe to Amidu

Edudzi Tamakloe, a lawyer and aide to former President John Dramani Mahama has opined that the Special Prosecutor should have instituted criminal proceedings against the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and his deputy Charles Adu Boahen after uncovering the rot in the Agyapa Royalty transaction.

According to Edudzi Tamakloe, instead of writing to the president, Martin Amidu should have begun the process of prosecution of the two ministers as it is glaring that they have not only violated procurement laws but also committed corruption act.

He noted that the act establishing the office of the Special Prosecutor empowers him to investigate and prosecute public officials who are found to have engaged in corruption.

“If you have come to the conclusion that the bid process was rigged and that there were breaches of the procurement act, then why don’t you act on the mandate of the Special Prosecutors which gives you the power to investigate and prosecute corruption and corruption-related cases involving public officials," he quizzed on Okay FM.

“You (Special Prosecutor) should start the process of prosecution. He said that there have been breaches and illegalities. The law establishing his office says his mandate is to investigate and prosecute. So the logical conclusion would have been for him to proceed with the prosecution”.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Mark Assibey-Yeboah has rubbished the works of Martin Amidu on the Agyapa Royalties deal.

Dr. Assibey-Yeboah said that the job done by the Special Prosecutor is shoddy and that, the committee was not engaged on the matter.

“I say Martin Amidu’s work is sloppy. You are criticizing the work of Parliament, you are doing a corruption risk assessment, I am chairman of the Finance Committee, you come for our report, you don’t even know how the meetings went and you sit somewhere and you are saying that you do not think that Parliament or the Finance Committee did a thorough job. He didn’t even consult me; he didn’t call me. He could have easily invited me to speak to me. This is the sloppiest job I’ve ever seen.” Dr. Assibey-Yeboah stated.

He added, “You are passing judgment on an arm of government and you don’t take the pains to speak to the Majority Leader, the chairman of the Finance Committee, the Speaker of Parliament, all those connected with this approval process and he thinks we should swallow hook-line and sinker what he puts out?”