Presidency collaborated with OSP to deliver – Baako

Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) got the needed support from the presidency to enable the Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu execute his mandate.

According to him, some documents he has cited proves that the Akufo-Addo administration played a very significant role in assisting Martin Amidu with the needed logistics as well.

“My scrutiny of some official documents and records point to the fact that there was no lack of commitment from the executive.

“In this case, the presidency collaborated with the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Special Prosecutor himself to deliver an efficient office in terms of accommodation, logistics…,” he observed.

The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper said on Newsfile on Saturday, November 21 that there was abundant evidence of communication and exchanges between the OSP and the presidency, “especially [from] the office of the chief of staff who appears to be the point person the Special Prosecutor was dealing with oftentimes.”

“So, both sides apparently had a certain commitment to deliver on the office,” Baako concluded.

Martin Amidu in his letter of resignation stated that he was denied key logistics and accommodation that would have enabled him to perform his functions appropriately.

But Baako disagrees, indicating that “with reference to page 7 of the parliamentary report on the office of the Special Prosecutor for 2020, the Special Prosecutor informed a committee that the plan to move the offices to an appropriate office accommodation in 2019 could not materialise due to the fact that the building [which] was finally secured with the help of his excellency the president had certain structural defects which [needed] to be remedied by the original contractor before it could be repurposed as offices for the OSP”.

“Given that the 2019 budget of the OSP was prepared on the assumption that the new office facility would be made available among others to accommodate 249 [staff] which were to be recruited in the year and the establishment of a tender entity committee to make the necessary procurement [the] accommodation situation significantly hampered the implementation of planned programmes and activities of the OSP in the year under review,” Baako read from the parliamentary report.

Kweku Baako further observed that some correspondence and communication from both sides gave the indication that they were still in pursuit of a decent and suitable Office of the Special Prosecutor.

“I am not sure it is a substitute for the kind of office the Special Prosecutor envisages for his safety and because the executive also agreed that it was a [temporary] facility, both sides were cooperating or collaborating to look for an effective one,” he noted.

Martin Amidu on Monday November 16, 2020, resigned from his position as the Special Prosecutor.

In a resignation letter to the President, Martin Amidu said: "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."