‘Fearless’ Amidu best for Special Prosecutor job – Emile Short

Former Commissioner of the Commission on Humans Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Short, has described Special Prosecutor nominee, Mr Martin Amidu, as the best person for the job.

His praise for Mr Amidu comes following the eight-hour vetting of the former Attorney General by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, 13 February 2018.

Reacting to Mr Amidu’s performance, Mr Short said the anti-corruption campaigner left a lasting impression in the minds of Ghanaians.

Mr Short told Class News: “I was highly impressed and it only reinforced by initial assessment when the nomination was announced that he is the person for this job. He has all the qualities and vast experience as a prosecutor. Academically, he’s sound, he has integrity, he’s fearless and he’s been an anti-corruption crusader, and, so, so far as the vetting went which took so long, such a gruelling vetting process, but he came out extremely well. There were some difficult questions which he was able to explain…”

Meanwhile, some Ghanaians have criticised Mr Amidu’s posture before the committee.

The Director of the Centre for European Studies at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has said Mr Amidu, despite being on top of issues, displayed arrogance.

According to him, Mr Amidu, despite his knowledge in the subject area, was disrespectful to the committee with his mannerisms and that should be condemned.

Professor Gyampo told Accra FM: “He [Amidu] demonstrated he was on top of issues but no matter how brilliant you are, no matter how intelligent you may be, when you appear before a committee or a group of people for an interview or to be vetted, you have to maintain a composure which is very calm but at the same time will not make you a walkover.

“The vetting committee is not a place to blow your own horn and show disrespectful gestures. To the youth: if you adopt this attitude at some interview, no matter how qualified or brilliant you are, you’ll not be employed. In a way, the composure and mannerism of Martin Amidu was not the best, I found it quite disrespectful to the vetting committee.”