Agyapa deal smacks of naked, endemic, pervasive corruption under Akufo-Addo – Edudzi

A private legal practitioner and a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Godwin Edudzi Tameklo has said the Special Prosecutor resigned from office following the bad Agyapa deal which was introduced by the government.

“I think it is about saving the public from the naked, endemic and pervasive corruption that is ongoing.

“The end result is that the Agyapa deal a force Amidu out of office beyond any doubt.

“Our president was comfortable with everything the Special Prosecutor was doing until the Special Prosecutor indicted his office then the problem started,” he said on the New Day show with Johnnie Hughes on TV3 Tuesday November 24.

The first occupant of the Office of Special Prosecutor resigned his position on Monday, November 16, citing a number of reasons.

“The events of 12th November 2020 removed the only protection I had from the threats and plans directed at me for undertaking the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption assessment report and dictates that I resign as the Special Prosecutor immediately,” he had stated in his resignation letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

“I should not ordinarily be announcing my resignation to the public myself but the traumatic experience I went through from 20th October 2020 to 2nd November 2020 when I conveyed in a thirteen (13) page letter the conclusions and observations on the analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption assessment on the Report On Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions and Other Matters Related Thereto to the President as Chairman of the National Security Council cautions against not bringing my resignation as the Special Prosecutor with immediate to the notice of the Ghanaian public and the world.”

President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo in a statement reacting to these allegations denied the claims of Mr Amidu.

“Your accusation of interference with your functions simply on account of the meeting the president held with you is perplexing.

“In exercise of what you considered to be your powers under Act 959, you had voluntarily proceeded to produce the Agyapa Report.

“The president had no hand in your work. Without prompting from any quarter within the Executive. you delivered a letter purporting to be a copy of you report to the president.

“The purpose of presenting a copy of the Agyapa report to the president is decipherable from paragraph 32 of your letter to the president in which you indicated that you hoped the report will be ‘used to improve current and future legislative and executive actions to make corruption and corruption-related offences very high risk enterprise in Ghana’,” the president said in a statement responding to the accusation against him by Mr Amidu who resigned from his post on Monday.