A Minority member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament Mahama Ayariga has disclosed that their decision to approve the nomination of Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor was to counter public perception that the NDC is afraid of him.
“We overwhelmingly, as a minority, had taken a decision that we will pass him any day because people out there perceive that we were afraid of him and we want to show that we are not afraid of nobody,” the Bawku Central MP told Accra-based Citi FM Wednesday.
He added: “I mean the NDC is bigger than any single one person who might have committed an offense in the previous NDC regime. We saw it in NDC one, some Ministers were arrested, they were tried, they went to jail and it did nothing to the NDC.
“The rank and file remobilized, chose new leadership and fought and recaptured power. So we were determined before we even went to the meeting that as for passing whatever he comes with, we will pass him. Because if we don’t pass there will be the perception that we are afraid of him. We want to let everybody know that we are not afraid of him.”
His comments come as Starr News sources say the Appointments Committee unanimously approved the nomination of Mr. Amidu as Special Prosecutor.
The approval was made hours after the almost nine-hour grilling of the former attorney general.
According to parliamentary practice, the plenary of the House will have to consider the approval of the appointments committee and vote on the nominee.
If finally cleared by Parliament and sworn in by the President, Amidu will become Ghana’s first Special prosecutor.
The Special Prosecutor IS a specialized agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically-exposed persons as well as individuals in the private sector implicated in corrupt practices and to prosecute the offences on the authority of the Attorney-General.
The Office is also expected to help reduce the workload on existing investigative agencies and, thereby, enhance their effectiveness. The establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor has become necessary in view of the institutional bottlenecks that impede the fight against corruption.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
