A co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr. Steve Manteaw, says he is convinced that President Nana Akufo-Addo has failed monumentally in the fight against corruption, citing the resignation of the Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu from office.
Dr. Manteaw who is also the spokesperson for the Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on extractives, anti-corruption and good governance, observed that the events leading to the resignation of Mr Amidu were not only unfortunate but contrary to what President Akufo-Addo promised to do when voted to power.
Speaking to host Kwasi Kumi Boadu (KKB) on Sunyani-based Moonlite 102.3 FM concerning the government’s posture on combating graft, D.r Manteaw said that the Akufo-Addo administration tried to make the Special Prosecutor work like a poodle.
“When we talk about a poodle, it is a dog and it is extremely loyal so if the Special Prosecutor is saying something like they wanted to treat him as a poodle then it means that all they wanted was for the Special Prosecutor to do what they [the government] wanted him to do,” he explained.
Dr. Manteaw also stressed it was very wrong for President Akufo-Addo to control Mr Amidu “because the law, concerning the establishment of the Special Prosecutor’s office guaranteed him, Martin Amidu, total independence from external bodies.”
He further stated that the resignation letter from the Special Prosecutor was in protest against the “pressure” that the government had thrown at him.
Mr. Amidu, a former Attorney General under the NDC government, resigned from office on Monday three years after he was appointed by President Akufo-Addo.
Among the reasons for quitting, Mr Amidu cited interference with his work, adding “my position as the Special Prosecutor has consequently become clearly untenable” under the presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo despite a pledge from the President to “respect” his office and not control it.
Amidu who is also known as Citizen Vigilante told President Akufo-Addo in his resignation letter that he had to announce his resignation to the public because of “the traumatic experience I went through from October 20, 2020, to November 2, 2020, when I conveyed in a 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.”
To this end, Dr. Manteaw who staged a spirited campaign against the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions, said he was convinced the Akufo-Addo administration has lost the fight against corruption especially within his own government.
“When it comes to corruption, NPP has failed monumentally. Even if you take one corruption case out, the rest of the cases would still be more than that of the NDC’S,” he added “That is not a good thing.”
Expressing displeasure at the current happenings, Dr. Manteaw said that although he was once behind the NPP, he couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that the corruption in the country is massive and they have proven to be failures in that regard.
Amidu Has Exposed Akufo-Addo’s Corrupt Nature
Meanwhile Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Hon. Inusah Fuseini, has chastised President Akufo-Addo for his failure to tackle corruption which he passionately preached against in the run up to the 2020 elections.
According to the former Lands and Natural Resources Minister who was speaking on Dwaboase on Power FM, the resignation of Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has exposed President Akufo-Addo’s unwillingness to fight corruption in his government.
Mr. Fuseini said the revelations coupled with an earlier instruction from the President to then Auditor General to proceed on leave has depicted President Akufo-Addo as unwilling to fight corruption, especially when both corruption fighters had touched some members of the President’s family or close associates.
“The President himself interfered with Amidu’s work so why should he invite the Special Prosecutor to his office? Martin Amidu is an independent prosecutor however, why should the President instruct him to put his report down if he wants to publish it?,” Mr Fuseini remarked.
He said the actions of the President, his Attorney General and Finance Minister showed a concerted effort to frustrate Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor, stressing “Why did the President tell him [Amidu] that he would handle the report and didn’t go by his words?”
“We have days to election but they can’t campaign on corruption,” the MP said ” Amidu resigned because the NPP did not want him to do the right thing.”
He stated that Ghanaians have seen the unwillingness of the NPP government to fight corruption and added, “before Ghana can investigate issues pertaining to corruption scandals, we must kick Nana Akufo-Addo out.”
