'My probe into sacked PPA boss compromised' - Martin Amidu

The Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu says his Office has been unable to commence investigations into the Contract for Sale documentary by Manasseh Azuri Awuni because investigators working with him have been compromised.

The documentary implicated sacked Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority who was subsequently sacked by the President.

In a statement signed by the Special Prosecutor, Mr Amidu points out that his office, long before it received evidence of the Contract for Sale Documentary, was already conducting investigations on Mr Adjenim Adjei following evidence of procurement malpractices gathered against him by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

However, Mr Amidu points out that with his Office facing delays with the collation of evidence and information on the investigation it was already carrying out, he had to put on hold the investigation into issues uncovered in the Contract For Sale documentary.

He also attributed the delay to compromise on the part of two of his investigators.

Working with the Auditor General’s Office on the case, Mr Amidu says staff of the Audit Service at a point became reluctant in the investigation and “when I got the Auditor-General several months down the line to be candid with me on why his staff refused to collaborate with the two investigators in the case, he informed me that his staff reported to him that when they first met with my staff they were told by my seconded staff investigators that the case was so good that each of them could benefit from it.”

According to Mr Amidu, even though his investigators denied the issue when he confronted them about it, scenarios playing out in other ongoing investigations by his office were unduly delaying. A situation that confirmed that his seconded staff investigators were compromised.

Comparing a first draft report on the Adjenim Boateng Adjei investigation prepared by the investigators to incriminating evidence in their possession, Mr Amidu says he felt scandalized having sighted inconsistency and called for a suspension of all on-going investigations in all cases except those affecting pending cases in court.

Mr Amidu in his statement points out that even though he has identified the investigators as being compromised, he has no disciplinary authority over them because they are not directly employed by his outfit but are outsourced to him by other agencies.

He however commended the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice for their investigation and report on Mr Adjenim Adjei which has led to him being sacked by the President as CEO of PPA. He however stated that owing to documents and evidence available to his office, CHRAJ understated the amounts it uncovered by bank statements from three bank accounts of the sacked PPA CEO.