Martin Amidu accuses Mahama of sabotaging corruption fight

Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin A.B. Amidu, has accused former President John Dramani Mahama of undermining efforts by the Akufo-Addo administration in fighting corruption in the country.

According to him, “moles planted in high positions by the Mahama administration, within the ministries ahead of the 2016 election, are sabotaging efforts by the Akufo-Addo administration to fight corruption, especially regarding the GHC51.2 million judgment debt paid to businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, by the Mills/Mahama administration.

In an article titled: “The missing link” in the Woyome case, Mr Amidu said a recent concern raised by the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, about why nothing has happened to the Mills appointees who facilitated the payment of the GHC51.2 million, was a good reminder which could help the state retrieve the money from Mr Woyome.

While noting that: “No reasonable person expects President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to personally investigate and deal with suspects in fulfillment of his promises of fighting corruption and dealing with past corruption which substantially contributed to earning him the Presidency,” Mr Amidu observed that: “This is a function of his appointees to whom he has assigned ministerial responsibility for security and intelligence, law and order, and particularly justice.”

He noted that President Akufo-Addo’s inability to tackle corruption as promised is due to the NDC moles in the ministries “who are misadvising the ministers responsible for dealing with issues such as the Woyome saga.”

“The change of government brought about by the electorate who demonstrated their hatred for corruption in the body politic offered the chances for the new government to re-open the case and find the real facts, which the previous government suppressed because it was itself complicit in the commission of the suspected crimes. Eleven months down the line, nothing has been done or is being done to the knowledge of the public to redeem the President’s promise on this outstanding matter.

“One of the problems faced by some of the appointees of the present government is the ability to go beyond the biased advice being proffered to them by the senior public officers they inherited from the previous government. A conscientious and knowledgeable minister should be able, within the first three months in office, to know how many of his officers were recently promoted by the outgoing government and their role in cover-ups in the ministry. The inability of any minister to understand the composition and promotional history of his senior public servants upon whom he depends for advice within the first three to six months means that he may be working with moles planted before the demise of the previous government,” he said.

“A simple analysis of the staff list in any ministry including transfers within a period will easily give any minister a bird’s eye view of how very junior staff wormed their way into acting senior positions above their very senior and competent colleagues and were later promoted in the election year, just in case the ballot was lost,” he added.

This, the anti-corruption crusader said, may provide an opening into the dependability and professionalism of some senior public servants in calling the government’s attention to residual issues needing urgent redress.