Martin Amidu in trouble over contempt

Martin Amidu, popularlyy known as Citizen Vigilante for his sustained crusade against corruption, has courted the ire of Members of Parliament (MPs) after accusing them of taking huge bribes before approving certain financial agreements put before them.

In a communication to Prof Mike Oquaye, Speaker of the Seventh Parliament, Martin Amidu asked him (Speaker) to purge the legislature of corruption because according to him, the 5th and the 6th parliaments were involved in serious corrupt activities.

He said that there is an institutionalised corruption in parliament, claiming that MPs in the 5th and the 6th parliaments took bribes from ministries, departments and agencies before approving their budgets.

He also alleged that the MPs took bribes from nominated appointees before approving their nominations.

But in parliament on Wednesday, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member for Mpohor, Alex Kofi Agyekum, raised the issue on the floor of the House when it was considering the business statement for the second week of the first meeting of the first session.

He drew the speaker’s attention to those allegations which had been published in the newspapers and said there was the need for parliament to invite Mr Martin Amidu, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, to come and prove his case because his allegation is a blanket one.

Mr Agyekum, who was part of the 6th parliament, said the allegation has serious implications for the legislature and therefore it was important for Martin Amidu to come and prove it.

He wanted the speaker to summon Citizen Vigilante to appear before parliament to prove his allegation otherwise the reputation of MPs would be lowered in the eyes of well-meaning Ghanaians.

The corruption issue raised by the Mpohor MP was greeted with huge ‘hear, hear’ from the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs who seemed to totally agree with the NPP MP.

The speaker, Prof Mike Oquaye, however said that it was a wrong time for the MP to raise the issue because it was not part of the business statement being deliberated on.

He therefore advised the Mpohor MP to use the appropriate platform to raise the matter for consideration.