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OSP has turned into an unconstitutional unruly monster - Martin Amidu

Martin Amidu and the current SP, Kissi Agyebeng

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Anti-corruption crusader and former Special Prosecutor of Ghana, Martin Amidu, has described his former office as one that now meddles in unconstitutional activities.

In his latest epistle that looked at the High Court ruling in the matter of the OSP’s freezing of accounts belonging to Cecilia Dapaah, the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Amidu described the position of the OSP as unruly.

“The Ruling in the application on notice filed on 8 August 2023 by Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, in the High Court, Accra, for an order to confirm his unlawful administrative seizure and freezing of the money and bank accounts of Ms. Cecilia Dapaah in the case of Special Prosecutor v Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Suit No. FT/0072/2023, High Court (Financial & Economic Crime Division 2), Accra, 31 August 2023 (Unreported) settled beyond every reasonable doubt that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has been turned by the Special Prosecutor into an unconstitutional unruly monster.

“The ruling of the court also establishes that the OSP and the Special Prosecutor behaved as a rogue law enforcement institution acting capriciously, arbitrarily and without candor in trampling upon the basic guaranteed fundamental human rights and freedoms of Cecilia Dapaah in unlawfully arresting and searching her matrimonial residences, confiscating her assets without being informed of the reasons for her arrest, searches, seizures and administratively freezing of her assets and investments,” he wrote.

Martin Amidu also called out the hypocrisy of people he referred to as friends of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, who have made unfounded calls on Cecilia Dapaah when they have not read the full details of the High Court ruling on the case.

He added that what these persons are doing is a media hysteria and public lynching of Cecilia Dapaah when in actual sense, it is the Office of the Special Prosecutor that is not treading constitutionally.

“The Special Prosecutor’s friends who are professional media and legal practitioners have gone to the extent of making insinuations at the ruling of the High Court which they may not have read and questioning why Act 959 did not allow the OSP to obtain confirmations of its administrative seizures of assets and freezing of bank accounts without giving notice to the affected parties. It has been argued that the OSP should be treated as Special by the courts in disregard of the provisions of Act 959 and the 1992 Constitution.

“Other friends of the Special Prosecutor who know that a suspect is at liberty to remain silent and to challenge the prosecution to prove its case against him or her beyond a reasonable doubt have gone to the extent of calling upon Cecilia Dapaah to publicly state the sources of her assets and investment. These clearly constitute media hysteria and public lynching of suspects in the court of public opinion. The Special Prosecutor’s press release of 5 September 2023 appears to be a continuation of the originally generated public lynching hysteria his media/lawyer friends and he began on 24 July 2023,” he added.

The former SP concluded his epistle by implying that the OSP itself needs cleansing since it is becoming a crime scene.

“The certified true copy of the ruling of the High Court vindicates my published opinion on 7 September 2023 and dated 6 September 2023 which should be read alongside this discourse for a holistic understanding of the necessity for the OSP remaining a professional law enforcement institution and not an unlawful and unconstitutional unruly monster. A rogue law enforcement institution becomes itself a crime scene needing to be cleansed to uphold the integrity of Act 959 and the 1992 Constitution,” he wrote.

Read the full epistle of Martin Amidu below:

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