Amidu chides ministers

Special Prosecutor, Martin A.B.K. Amidu, has berated ministers of state of impeding his fight against corruption in the country.

According to the special prosecutor, ministers have not been forthcoming with critical documents required for him to deliver on his mandate.

“The present situation where critical ministries and agencies have failed even with our limited constraints or refused to produce public records on demand to aid the office in critical investigations, offences running into millions of cedis, clearly demonstrate that there is divergence between the president’s vision and that of some of his appointees.

“You ask for information you can’t get it, you ask for docket, the docket cannot be produced. You ask a minister for a record, the record cannot be produced. How do you fight corruption when those appointed by the president who has a vision are not coordinating with the office of the special prosecutor to achieve his mandate? That is the challenge we have to face,” the anti-corruption crusader bemoaned at a national audit forum organised by the Ghana Audit Service in Accra.

He also stressed that he does not have the necessary logistics to deliver as expected. “I am saying this for the public to understand that we have set up an office. We have to organise that office, have the requisite personnel. It does not take one day. The law says 90 days after the assumption of office of the Special Prosecutor, pursuant legislation must be enacted, but as I speak today, I have no legislation so I use my common sense.”

The lamentation of the special prosecutor comes after the Auditor General, Daniel Domelovo, disclosed publicly that the popular anti-graft office cannot be effective because it was poorly resourced. “Our collaboration I believe can bring about the deterrence that we require in the public sector, but I want to submit that the Special Prosecutor is not sitting well at all. There is no way he can be effective where he is seated.

“I want to invite all of you to visit him but I won’t tell you why. Go and visit him and you would see whether you can be effective with only one secretary with no investigator and prosecutor, nothing,” he said.