Martin Amidu Suffers From Manic Depression

By Nana Kow Blankson

Many colleagues and people, who have known Martin Amidu for decades, are not worried about his ranting on supposed corruption in the NDC government since he was dismissed as Attorney General by the late President Mills. They will tell you quietly that Martin Amidu has been suffering from manic depression for many years, so whenever his manic depression triggers off he becomes unstable and treats everybody with contempt in addition to perceiving everybody around him as corrupt.

Credible sources within the NDC who have kept the ailment of Martin Amidu under wraps for many years feel that his dismissal from government may have triggered his manic depression hence his weekly unsubstantiated accusations of corruption against the ruling NDC government. They feel the time is ripe for Ghanaians to know exactly what is bothering Martin so that those who care about him will send him to seek urgent medical help.

Martin Amidu was the deputy Attorney General under the PNDC when the traces of his manic depression emerged in the late 1980s. When the situation deteriorated and his condition became very bad, JJ Rawlings ordered that Martin Amidu be flown outside the country to the United Kingdom for treatment.

In the United Kingdom, Martin Amidu was referred to a popular Health Farm where he was confided for treatment at the expense of the government pay check. On his return to Ghana, Martin’s condition did not return to normal, therefore, he had to go back multiple times to the Health Farm for further treatment.

Health Farms are normally institutions or places where people suffering from severe stresses and strains of day-to-day life can go and relax, detox and revive themselves. The health farms are also known for their health focused treatments which range from lymphatic drainage, nutrition advice, cellulite treatments and colonic hydrotherapy. Others, also visit health farms when they're feeling frazzled and in need of mental therapeutic lifestyle changes.

The sources contend that Martin Amidu has this bullying instinct which makes him falsely believe that he is better than anybody else. The sources recall that in 1986 when Amidu was chairman of the Public Agreements Board (PAB), he became highly suspicious of any international or national agreement that came to his desk thinking that any agreement smacks of corruption.

As a result of Amidu’s bullish attitude, agreements piled up on his desk with many donors complaining bitterly about him. This led to the dissolution of the PAB by JJ Rawlings. Whilst people in public service normally operated on trust, Amidu never trusted anybody including himself, and this led to repeated clashes with others. Amidu was not someone who could work with anybody or trusted anybody. It was after the dissolution of the PAB that the traces of Amidu’s manic depression emerged in full force leading him to be sent to the UK for treatment.

Therefore, his recent so-called crusade against corruption is nothing new to many NDC followers who see him as an annoying buzzing fly looking for an elusive shit to land on.

The sources maintained that most of them were taken aback when Amidu was made the vice-presidential mate of the late President Mills in the 2000 election because Amidu would have made life very unbearable for Mills if he had won the elections.

“Amidu is definitely not someone who would have worked well with President Mills if he had won the election in 2000. Just see the way he keeps discussing private conversations he had with President Mills in the open, one of the sources said.”

“Public office service is strictly based on trust. One person cannot do it alone, or think that he is the only good person around. We have deadlines for the execution of duties in public office, but Amidu does not go with deadlines, that are why agreements upon agreements piled up on his desk with some donors even threatening to withdraw their offers. Such a person cannot be taken serious because he accomplished very little in every position that he held, the officer concluded.”

nkowblankson@yahoo.com