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Akufo-Addo faking corruption fight - Martin Amidu

66298520 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

Sat, 28 Nov 2020 Source: theheraldghana.com

Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has once again questioned the commitment of President Akufo-Addo in the fight against corruption suggesting the President is only faking the fight.

According to him, the conduct exhibited by the President following the submission of the findings of his Corruption Risk Assessment conducted into the Agyapa deal has demonstrated that his anti-graft campaign is pretentious and rhetorical.

In an earlier letter, the then-Special Prosecutor had cited instances where President Akufo-Addo had instructed that he holds onto the report on the Agyapa Mineral Royalties Transaction in anticipation of a response from his cousin, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta who had been indicted by the corruption assessment for issues of bid-rigging among others. Ken had used his private company Databank and its affiliate Imara Corporate Finance based in South Africa as part of deal and paid himself.

Also involved is the transaction is another cousin of President Akufo-Addo, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko who through his private law firm Africa Legal Associates got involved under a shadowy circumstances.

Gabby's involvement just like Ken Ofori-Atta was cloaked as an international legal arrangement in which the UK-based law firm White and Case was mentioned to The Herald by Gabby during the paper's investigation into Agyapa/Asase Royalties Limited.

Another law firm tied to the transaction is Ace Ankomah's Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah. Interestingly, this firm as always has remained silent. Gabby and Ofori-Atta who have separately spoken on their involvement gave conflicting details.

Martin is unhappy with President's attempt to mispresent him to Ghanaians as a difficult and an unreasonable personality to work with, following his Corruption Risk Assessment.

Martin, in another letter to President in response to what the fourth family member of the Akufo-Addo who doubles as his Secretary; Nana Bediatuo Asante sent him in response to the reasons behind his resignation, declared that the President to be "Mother serpent of corruption".

In a 27-page response to the President dated Friday, November 27, he called Nana Bediatuo Asante a laxy lawyer who doesn't read but rushes into responses thus "making false and frivolous character assassination attacks on my integrity for cheap political point scoring".

He added, "I shudder to think of the impression being created to the domestic and international community that this dear country of ours, Ghana, is now being run on autopilot".

The former special prosecutor several times called President Akufo-Addo "ANTI-CORRUPTION MOSES" and asked "Mr President, kindly tell Ghanaians your reason for refusing to interdict or order the Municipal Chief Executive for the Bawku Municipal Assembly to vacate her office, even on voluntary or compulsory leave like you unconstitutionally did to Mr. Daniel Domelevo, the constitutionally appointed Auditor-General of Ghana, after my several pleas with you, and in spite of the fact that the first prosecution witness in the case gave his evidence-in-chief, was cross-examined and discharged on 12th November 2020 in the case of the Republic v Haiia Hawa Ninchema & 7 Others. After informal communications with you to do so failed, I wrote formally to you on 8th September 2020 attaching the interdiction letters of her co-accused public officers who had been interdicted in the same case and stating, inter alia, that: "Your decision is important to vindicate your known commitment to fighting corruption and the promise we exchanged in January 2018 before I accepted to be the Special Prosecutor."

He lamented that "She is still working at her post when her co-accused who are also citizens of Ghana are on interdiction. My dear former "ANTI-CORRUPTION MOSES" this is just one example to remind you, Mr President, that you should not have unleashed your attack dogs on my integrity as being responsible for the failure of the Special Prosecutor in the fight against corruption under your Presidency. How could I succeed when this single example shows that my former "ANTI-CORRUPTION MOSES" failed me anytime his ox was gored like in the Agyapa Royalties Transactions anti-corruption assessment report. It would come as no surprise to me when all the accused persons in the two pending corruption cases in the High Court since March 20191 left behind are acquitted and discharged after my resignation. Bawku is where I grew up and the people of Bawku know the President's corrupt partisan injustice that she is at post even today while the other public officers are on interdiction".

"Mr President, the politically induced witch-hunting audit you ordered into the Office of the Special Prosecutor on Monday 23rd November 2020 after you had accepted my resignation from the date I assumed Office in 2018 to the date of your acceptance of my resignation simply because of my professional work on the suspected corruption infested Agyapa Royalties Limited Transaction anti-corruption assessment report will never intimidate me. You may end up rendering at naught the effectiveness of the Office in the performance of its statutory functions and undermine your own acclaimed vision of fighting corruption during your second term in Office. Mark my words, Mr. President!

To him, "the President of Ghana only looked like the innocent flower of the fight against corruption but was indeed the mother serpent of corruption under the innocent looking flower of anti-corruption".

Martin, mentioned what to him is unspoken code declared by President know as "IT IS OUR TURN TO EAT" with a gang of people made up of his family members saying this is akin to Kenya under the Mwai Kibaki administration.

Martin Amidu explained that "When I told the President on the 23rd October 2020 and on 1st November 2020 that he had no authority to usurp the functions of the Special Prosecutor it should have been clear to him that his interpretation had exceeded his authority under article 58(1) of the Constitution."

The former Special Prosecutor believes the reaction of the President under the circumstance makes it clear that the President's role in the deal is much more pronounced than earlier publicised describing him as "the mother corruption serpent" in the arrangement.

"The unconstitutional assumptions made by the President constitute the very conduct exhibited for the first time to me by the President which convinced me beyond every reasonable doubt that he only looked like the innocent flower but is the mother corruption serpent under the Agyapa Royalties Transactions," he said.

In another paragraph, Martin Amidu emphasised that "when I met the President on 23rd October 2020, I received the shock of my life when he demanded that I took no further action on the Agyapa royalties transaction anti-corruption assessment report for another week."

"That was when it was divinely revealed to me that the President whom I trusted so much for integrity only looked like the innocent flower of anti-corruption but he was really the mother corruption serpent under the innocent-looking flower."

Martin Amidu resigned from his position as Special Prosecutor on November 16, three years after he was appointed by President Akufo-Addo.

Source: theheraldghana.com
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