The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) wants Mr Martin A.B.K. Amidu to be removed as the Special Prosecutor on the grounds that he is “incompetent”.
ASEPA is arguing that since Mr Amidu has not been able to complete one case since his appointment, that in itself is enough grounds as a proof of his incompetence and therefore should be removed.
In a radio interview with Accra based Citi FM, monitored by Graphic Online, the Executive Secretary of ASEPA, Mr Mensah Thompson said, “a number of issues emanating from the outfit of the Special Prosecutor raises fundamental questions of the competences of Mr Martin Amidu.”
“The Special Prosecutor’s Office has returned un-used budgetary funds for un-used allocations back to government coffers.”
“It means that the government has given the Special Prosecutor much money which they couldn’t even use and return it to the government and so they are getting the necessary resources and support from the government, unfortunately the output has been very minimal.”
“Infact since 2018 we have not seen a single productive investigation done by the Office, a single productive prosecution done by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, then why do we still keep Mr Amidu in place,” Mr Thompson alleged.
Mr Thompson said ASEPA has sent a copy of its report to the Office of the President and “we expect the Presidency to use the report as it is, giving the government a proper assessment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the performance of Mr Martin Amidu.”
“It is for the president to use his own discretion to decide whether he wants to keep Mr Martin Amidu in office or not.”
“Per the law as it stands, you cannot change him [Amidu], you cannot just remove him and appoint a new person, but because his stature is like a High Court judge, or an Appeal Court judge, the process of Article 146 can be invoked to commence impeachment proceedings against him, if the presidency feels that they need to get him out, and that is what we want,” Mr Thompson said in the Citi FM interview.
Mr Martin Amidu in July 2019 wrote about the biggest challenge facing the Office of the Special Prosecutor as an anti-corruption investigatory and prosecutorial body.
He explained that in spite of all the powers conferred upon it, it is not the President who promised the people of Ghana to establish the Office but the heads of institutions who simply refuse to comply with laws designed to ensure good governance and to protect the national purse by fighting corruption.
Source: graphic.com.gh
