Martin Amidu resigns as Special Prosecutor

GhanaWeb can report that Martin Amidu has resigned from his position as Special Prosecutor.

According to Mr Amidu, he is resigning because he does not feel that President Nana Akufo-Addo has done enough to safeguard the independence of his office.

He said: "The events of 12/11/20 removed the only protection I had from the threats & plans directed at me for undertaking the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption assessment report & dictates that I resign as the Special Prosecutor immediately".

In a letter addressed to Nana Akufo-Addo, Mr Amidu charged the president to find a suitable replacement for him.

“The one condition upon which I accepted to be nominated as the Special Prosecutor when you invited me to your Office on 10th January 2018 was your firm promise to me that you will respect and ensure same by your Government for my independence and freedom of action as the Special Prosecutor,” he stated.

Mr Amidu was nominated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as Special Prosecutor on January 11, 2018, and was subsequently approved by Parliament.

President Akufo-Addo at the swearing-in of Martin Amidu stated that "We expect the Special Prosecutor to discharge his duties vigorously with courage, without fear or favour, ill will or malice in accordance with the Rule of Law.”

His appointment was greeted with a lot of excitement because of his overt abhorrence for corruption.

It was expected that his strict and firm personality was exactly what the country needed to fight alleged corrupt practices and abuse of office.

But almost three years into the job, Amidu has come under intense pressure in what many believe has been an underwhelming performance.

Amidu has always maintained that he has not lost his penchant to go after corrupt officials, but persons in high places were frustrating his work.

In 2018, he complained about how some critical ministries and agencies had refused to produce public records on demand to aid the office in critical investigations regarding issues of corruption in the Akufo-Addo government.

He made the revelation at the National Audit Forum organised by the Ghana Audit Service. Martin Amidu added that his office was ‘under-resourced’ contributing to its inability to work effectively.

“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.”

Earlier today, investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni whose work led to the removal of the PPA boss from office by the President told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr that the Special Prosecutor must be bold and resign in order to draw attention to the problems of the office.

“My surprise is why Martin Amidu hasn’t resigned. Because he keeps giving one reason to the other, if all of these is continuing and you have no solution to it, the best is to resign so they could be some attention to the challenges in that office.

“You have somebody in office and for 3 years the only work he’s done is the Agyapa deal. So if there are challenges that are not being resolved, the best thing for him [Martin Amidu] is to resign”.