One year ago, amidst much fanfare and political hype, Mr. Martin Alamisi Amidu, a public irritant and a political gadfly was introduced to Ghanaians by President Nana Akuffo Addo as the Special Prosecutor.
Mr. Amidu, considered impeccable by those on the right side of politics in Ghana, was given the unenviable task of prosecuting public and private officials, past and present, deemed to have engaged in corruption, financial malfeasance to be precise.
We all thought Mr. Amidu was going to begin with a bang, with a long list of thieving officials to be prosecuted.
But to date, Mr. Amidu has not delivered. No corruption charges has yet been brought against any public or private official, and Allah knows there are many of them, past and present who have greedily helped themselves to taxpayers’ money.
Making matters worse is the fact that authorities, the NPP, have not advanced any tangible reason to explain why there has been such a prolonged period of inactivity by the Special prosecutor’s office.
After all, unlike the early beginnings, the office is not starved of money or man power; it has those in abundance. And, better still, Ghanaians of all political stripes, overwhelmingly support the office for the primary reason of wanting to see our society cleansed off graft and to see those who are guilty of it severely punished.
Nipping corruption in the bud was one of NPP’s grandiose campaign promises, remember? That was one of its rallying calls during the 2016 elections. Nana swore that he will fight corruption with everything he had, everything in his body.
And, true to form, he began the war against corruption with the creation of the office of the special prosecutor and employing Amidu to head it. So, the question that immediately comes to mind is simply this: Why is the government dragging its feet all of a sudden?
If Mr. Amidu is taking his sweet time to bring charges of corruption against private and public officials deemed to have stolen public funds, does in the least suggest that he is being deliberately stymied by those in power who don’t want their dirty linen washed in public?
Is the NPP trying desperately to shield some of its members accused of stealing from the public purse? Until Ghanaians hear something to the contrary, suspicions will remain that the government is hiding something sinister. It owes the Ghanaian public a whole lot of explanation. Mr. Amidu, a politician who prides himself on his brutal honesty and in fact, has had no qualms duking it out with other members of his political party, the NDC, was itching, more than eager it should be said, to begin his new career.
His brashness and holier than thou attitude essentially alienated him from a large section of the NDC. He subsequently became irrelevant and was ultimately shoved to the side, only to be handed a lifeline, saved by the NPP.
Though he won’t publicly admit it, Mr. Amidu saw his appointment as the Special Prosecutor as a golden opportunity, a God sent chance for him to exact revenge on his perceived enemies within the NDC who, prior to the 2016 elections, he had vigorously accused of corruption.
If and when Mr. Amidu gets around to carrying out his mandate, discharging his duties, the public would expect him to go after anyone, not just his enemies in the NDC, accused of corruption. And in the process of bringing these corrupt officials to book, Ghanaians want him to be fair, just and impartial.
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