Former Attorney General Martin Amidu asserts that the recently surfaced CCTV footage of the break-in at former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s residence has completely undermined the narrative pushed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Amidu argues that the video footage provides irrefutable proof, debunking claims that the operation was either a hoax or the work of imposters.
“The CCTV images have turned the tables on the Special Prosecutor, Parliament, and the President,” he said.
According to him, this contradicts the OSP’s claim that “the purported raid on Mr Ofori-Atta’s residence was staged or at best an imposter action in an attempt to court disfavour for the OSP and to derail the investigation.”
Mr. Amidu chastised the OSP for attempting to shift blame onto Ofori-Atta, noting that the former minister was out of the country when the incident took place.
“This narrative appeared to carry the morning, but for the fact that the victim was not an ordinary Ghanaian without the means to own a CCTV system installed in his home.”
He insisted that the footage exposes falsehoods in the OSP’s version of events and leaves the government with no escape from accountability.
The former Attorney General also rebuked Parliament for downplaying the seriousness of the break-in instead of addressing what he sees as a grave violation of Ofori-Atta’s rights.
“Rather than holding the perpetrators accountable, Parliament engaged in political point-scoring,” he remarked.
He also took issue with Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga’s response, calling his statement that the raid was “regrettable and unfortunate” an inadequate attempt to sweep the matter under the rug.
Amidu then turned his criticism to President John Mahama, arguing that as head of state and chair of the National Security Council, he bears ultimate responsibility for the actions of security agencies under his command.
“The burden is now upon the President to admit that he ordered the invasion or that it was conducted on his blind side. Either way, the nation demands accountability,” he declared.
Drawing historical comparisons, he warned against the unchecked abuse of power, referencing the 2002 invasion of the late President John Evans Atta Mills’ residence under the administration of John Agyekum Kufuor.
“The repeat of such impunity twenty-two years down the line must not go unpunished under President Mahama’s watch,” Martin Amidu warned.
“If he really intends to reset this country forward and not backward, he must act decisively.”
Amidu also raised concerns about the involvement of Richard Jakpa, pointing to parliamentary disclosures that allegedly link him to the raid.
“The emergence of Richard Jakpa in this operation, coupled with the OSP’s attempts to frame Ofori-Atta as the mastermind, strongly suggests collusion between the National Security Coordinator’s Office and the OSP,” he argued.
He demanded an independent and transparent investigation to uncover the true motives behind the invasion.
Amidu also criticized Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, accusing him of remaining passive in the face of state-led human rights violations.
“Bawku burned while Mahamudu Bawumia slept under the Akufo-Addo government. Today, our rights and freedoms are under attack while the sitting Vice-President remains silent,” he lamented.
Concluding his remarks, Mr. Amidu made a strong call for accountability, stressing that those behind the illegal invasion must be held responsible.
“Ghana must reset forward, not backwards to yesteryears. That is what the electorate voted for, and no media psyops can deflect the enormity of such unlawful acts by government assets and agents,” he concluded.
The former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has stated that the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, is the right person to serve as the next president of the country.
He noted that while the former president is not perfect, he possesses the necessary experience to address the issues caused by the Akufo-Addo administration.
“John Dramani Mahama is not a saint, but he is nobody’s poodle. He has the experience, as a former president, to audit the mess that the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government will leave behind,” he said.
He clarified that, although he has had disagreements with John Mahama in the past, Mahama has the necessary experience to uphold integrity and accountability in the country, especially after President Akufo-Addo’s inability to do so.
“I have had problems with John Dramani Mahama in the past, which are documented on my website. The constitutional situation on our hands, however, demands pragmatism to ensure probity and accountability after an eight-year tenure of government. We need a candidate who can command a sizeable parliamentary representation to actualise an audit of the previous government,” he said.
In a statement issued three days ahead of the 2024 general election, he claimed that the president is fearful of being audited by John Mahama. He urged Ghanaians to vote against the NPP on December 7 to protect and defend the country’s constitution.
“John Dramani Mahama, whose audit Nana Akufo-Addo fears, ought to be the best bet for the integrity of the 1992 Constitution in our present circumstances. The 1992 Constitution does not enshrine dynasty or inheritance by cronyism, and that is why the electorate should aim for a change in government on 7 December 2024, to defend and preserve the Constitution of our Fourth Republic. Ghana must always come first,” he emphasized.
He also stated that he would not endorse the candidacy of Dr Bawumia, saying, “I cannot, as a person born in the then NT, recommend Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as a person with the traits of honesty, integrity, and selfless service exhibited by our forebears from the NT to the Republic of Ghana, to be elected on 7 December 2024 as president, symbolising a representation of northerners on an NPP ticket for Ghana.”
Mr. Amidu, who previously served as Attorney General under the NDC government, labeled President Nana Akufo-Addo the “mother serpent of corruption” following his resignation as the country’s first Special Prosecutor in 2020—a role the president had appointed him to in the fight against corruption.
He argues that the president did not offer the essential support or the proper environment for him to effectively carry out investigations and prosecute corrupt individuals within the NPP administration.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has condemned Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, calling him an unfit and incompetent candidate for president.
In a statement released just days before the 2024 general election, Amidu shared details of Bawumia’s political history.
He explained that Bawumia and his family were once members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), but the vice president switched allegiance to the NPP after his attempt to secure the NDC’s vice-presidential slot failed.
Amidu declared that he could not support Dr. Bawumia for president, citing the corruption of the current president, Nana Akufo-Addo, as a major reason for his disapproval.
He went on to describe Dr. Bawumia as a mere “clone” and “poodle” of Akufo-Addo, labeling him as a product of the president’s leadership and accusing him of failing the country.
“The process of grooming, cloning, and socialising Dr Bawumia as Nana Akufo-Addo’s poodle began, leading to the sharing of similar governance principles, which Bawumia espoused at the Walewale rally,” he said.
“Nana Akufo-Addo has so successfully groomed Dr Bawumia in his own character and image that he can rest assured that when Dr Bawumia succeeds him as president, the fruits of ‘Ohene sℇ wo foro akoŋwa yi na sℇ wo aŋya sika a, wↄ bℇka sℇ wo yℇ okwasanpa ni’ will be protected from auditing for his family, friends, and cronies under his regime to sleep in peace,” he added.
The former Attorney General argued that electing Dr. Bawumia as president would simply mean endorsing Nana Akufo-Addo, leading to the persistence of the nation’s current difficulties.
“The choice facing the electorate on 7 December 2024 is, therefore, to vote for Mahamudu Bawumia as Nana Akufo-Addo’s anointed successor and continue suffering under the ‘create, loot, and share’ principle they both hold in common, or vote for change to enable probity and accountability, as demanded by the Constitution, to prevail,” he said.
He also emphasized that he could not support Dr. Bawumia’s candidacy, citing his lack of integrity and his inability to bring positive change to the country.
“I cannot, as a person born in the then NT, recommend Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as a person with the traits of honesty, integrity, and selfless service exhibited by our forebears from the NT to the Republic of Ghana to be elected on 7 December 2024 as president, symbolizing a representation of northerners on an NPP ticket for Ghana.
“Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is not only an opportunist and a pretender, but he has also lost track of the high moral character associated with his own biological family and the forebears of Northern Ghana,” he added.
It will be called that Mr. Martin Amidu, who served as Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor, resigned following a dispute with President Akufo-Addo, whom he accused of corruption.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has expressed his belief that former President John Dramani Mahama is better equipped to address the challenges Ghana will face after the tenure of President Nana Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
In his latest epistle, Amidu argued that Mahama has the experience and independence necessary to audit and rectify the “economic mess” allegedly created by the current administration.
“Ghana needs a President from one of the two dominant political parties who can audit the economic mess the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia inept government is going to leave behind,” he wrote.
Mr Amidu dismissed Dr. Bawumia as incapable of leading such a transformation, describing him as “a clone and poodle of the incumbent President.” He continued, “With Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, it is the same old wine in a new bottle! We may as well put lipstick on a pig, as the saying goes.”
The former Special Prosecutor acknowledged past disagreements with Mahama but emphasized that the current political climate demands a pragmatic approach to ensure accountability and uphold Ghana’s constitutional integrity.
“John Dramani Mahama is not a saint, but he is nobody’s poodle,” Amidu wrote. “He has the experience as a former President to audit the mess the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government will leave behind. The constitutional situation on our hands, however, demands pragmatism to ensure probity and accountability after an eight-year tenure of government.”
He urged the electorate to vote for change in the upcoming December 7, 2024, elections to safeguard the Constitution and ensure good governance.
“John Dramani Mahama, whose audit Nana Akufo-Addo fears, ought to be the best bet for the integrity of the 1992 Constitution in our present circumstances. Ghana must always come first!”
Former Attorney General Martin Amidu has fiercely criticized the Ghana Bar Association’s (GBA) unwavering endorsement of the Chief Justice’s decision to close courts in Bolgatanga.
In a recent article, he labeled the GBA’s backing as “a threat to our Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law.”
He warned that unquestioning allegiance to the Chief Justice’s administrative actions could erode the independence of the judiciary.
“The unbridled support of anything and everything the Chief Justice says or does…borders on sycophancy,” Mr. Amidu cautioned.
He added that the public deserves judicial decisions that are both impartial and open.
Mr. Amidu also scrutinized the judiciary’s alignment with national security, raising concerns over whether the Chief Justice’s decision was made independently or under “instructions… from the National Security Council.”
He stressed the importance of transparency in decisions impacting public access to justice, particularly given heightened tensions around the election period.
The former Attorney General condemned the Chief Justice’s administrative move to close courts in Bawku and nearby areas.
He called the decision to shut down courts, including those in the regional capital Bolgatanga, “unprecedented” and harmful to citizens’ rights.
According to a memorandum from the Judicial Secretary, the Chief Justice cited escalating security concerns as justification for the closures.
However, Mr. Amidu criticized this reasoning as “naïve,” arguing that Bolgatanga has consistently remained unaffected by the intermittent violence in Bawku.
He stated that “throughout the Bawku conflict… the regional capital has never been… in the conflict area.”
The former AG emphasised the potential legal ramifications of suspending court functions just weeks before the national elections, arguing it infringes upon citizens’ access to justice and could disrupt the judicial review of election-related issues.
“We the People demand Parliamentary oversight of the administrative decision…to close the High Court in Bolgatanga and its environs,” he stated.
Mr Amidu also expressed concern that the closure decision lacked sufficient input from local legal stakeholders, questioning the Chief Justice’s consultations.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, has called on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to fully adhere to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, which overturned his declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.
In a statement issued on October 31, Mr Amidu emphasized the Speaker’s constitutional duty to respect the Supreme Court as the ultimate authority in disputes between the state and its citizens.
Mr Amidu expressed concern over the Speaker’s actions, questioning why he would undermine the competence and integrity of Supreme Court justices, whom he himself approved for appointment, based on their past political affiliations.
“I found it interesting that in Ghana, the Speaker of Parliament with a well-known political affiliation who presided over the approval of members of the Supreme Court and recommended them for appointment will turn round to question the competence or integrity of any of the justices merely on the grounds of former political party affiliation without further proof of real likelihood of bias after the assumption of office of the justice.
“It is one thing criticizing the nomination of a person to the Supreme Court so that Parliament may consider the criticism in the approval process and another thing after Parliament has in a bipartisan manner approved and recommended the person for appointment and the appointment has been consummated to allege bias in a pending case without any shred of evidence,” he stated.
He further emphasized that once judicial appointments are made, the principle of impartiality must be upheld until proven otherwise.
“The Speaker has no authority to hold the nation to ransom by obstructing the functioning of the constitutional system or any of the arms of government during the pendency of a constitutional matter before the Supreme Court. The Speaker and Parliament have to learn to accept the decisions and orders of the Supreme Court they co-created with the Executive branch for Ghanaians in this epoch of the nation’s history.
“The wheels of government must move smoothly while the judiciary exercises the judicial power apportioned to it under the Constitution to resolve the pending constitutional impasse,” he stated.
Criticizing the Speaker’s choice to address the Supreme Court through a letter rather than formal legal channels, Amidu referred to this as a “Kabuki dance.”
He asserted that the Speaker does not possess the authority to disrupt government operations during an active Supreme Court case, as doing so would violate the principles of separation of powers and the rule of law.
“Between now and 7 December 2024, it is imperative that everything is done by the legislature and the executive branch particularly to lower political tensions and to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections instead of resorting to political party gamesmanship and point scoring which can be disastrous for the general wellbeing of the citizen and the survival of the 1992 Constitution from which all the arms of government derive their powers. The Speaker needs to show cognitive maturity now! Parliaments and Governments may come and go, but the Republic of Ghana shall always endure,” he stated.
Mr Amidu also called for both Parliament and the executive to focus on reducing political tensions, prioritizing national stability over partisan interests.
On the same day, the Supreme Court dismissed an application by Speaker Bagbin to reverse its previous decision that suspended his declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.
This ruling followed a lawsuit filed by Effutu MP Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, which challenged the Speaker’s declaration.
The Speaker’s legal team argued that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction, but after reviewing the arguments, the Court upheld its earlier ruling, with the Chief Justice remarking that “the grounds supporting the application have no merit.”
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has defied Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin’s demand for an apology regarding comments about a trip allegedly made by the Speaker.
Amidu has stated he will not apologize for his remarks, despite Bagbin’s insistence that he do so within seven days.
Amidu did, however, acknowledge an error in his article and offered an apology to his readers for mistakenly typing “Dubai in 2021” instead of “Dubai in 2022” in a question within paragraph 18 of his article dated May 26, 2024, and published on May 27, 2024.
On May 28, Speaker Bagbin refuted allegations made by Amidu that he had met with President Akufo-Addo in Dubai in 2021 before the rejection of the 2022 budget.
A statement from the Speaker’s Communication Unit dismissed these claims as baseless and an attempt to damage Bagbin’s reputation.
The statement, signed by Peter Bamfo, emphasized Bagbin’s long-standing record of distinguished and honest public service, reaffirming his commitment to prioritizing Ghana’s interests.
“The Rt Hon Speaker will not be deterred from carrying out his public service duties, guiding and providing leadership for Parliament even in the face of insinuations, unprovoked attacks and unfounded allegations like Mr Amidu’s,”the statement added.
The clarification came after Mr. Amidu made an allegation in a write-up criticizing the National Democratic Congress (NDC), its 2024 flagbearer, and the national chairman.
Speaker Bagbin demanded that Mr. Amidu retract what he termed as false and malicious statements within seven days, warning of potential further action.
However, Martin Amidu seems undeterred by the Speaker’s demands.
In a fresh article dated May 29, the former Special Prosecutor said “I have done nothing for which I need to withdraw, retract, and apologise for within seven days to Mr Bagbin who is dissipating the public purse needlessly in Dubai for health challenges which are treatable or manageable in Ghana.”
He added that “if you [Alban Bagbin] think my article defames you in anyway, defend your integrity and honour by issuing a writ of summons and a statement of claim against me in a court of law so that I can prove to the whole world that the things I wrote against the NDC in which you werementioned as its self-confessed corrupt Speaker are either true, justifiable, and constitute fair comments or questions on public matters on the conduct of a public officer, the Speaker, in the public interest.”
Martin Amidu has challenged Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to take legal action if he believes Amidu’s recent article defames him.
This challenge follows a heated controversy sparked by Amidu’s allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds by the Speaker.
A former Special Prosecutor, Amidu, issued this challenge after the Speaker’s Communications Unit demanded an apology for his publication dated May 26, 2024.
Instead of retracting his statements, Amidu has doubled down, insisting on the truthfulness of his claims and inviting Bagbin to defend his integrity in court.
“Mr. Bagbin, if you think my article defames you in any way, defend your integrity and honour by issuing a writ of summons and a statement of claim against me in a court of law,” Amidu stated.
He expressed his readiness to use the courtroom as a platform to expose what he describes as Bagbin’s misuse of public funds for medical treatments abroad that could be managed locally.
“An action in defamation with you as the plaintiff will provide me the opportunity to subpoena your passport, other records, and cross-examine you for Ghanaians to know that the resources you are needlessly dissipating from the public purse for your numerous trips to Dubai for your oncological and other cognitive challenges that are treatable or manageable in Ghana,” Amidu argued.
Amidu criticized Bagbin’s expenditure on foreign medical trips, highlighting the disparity between the Speaker’s access to healthcare and the struggles of ordinary Ghanaians.
“The several millions of local, and foreign currency dissipated on you alone to and in Dubai from the public purse would have purchased hundreds of dialysis machines for treating thousands of ordinary and needy Ghanaians,” he pointed out.
He also addressed Alban Bagbin directly, asserting that he would not be intimidated by political maneuvers.
“I wish to assure you that your friend Asiedu Nketiah whom you recruited onto the Parliamentary Service Board, John Mahama, Kissi Agyebeng, and Joy FM cannot use you and your position as the Speaker of Parliament to intimidate and frighten me from defending the 1992 Constitution,” Amidu declared.
A former Special Prosecutor, Martin A. B. K. Amidu, has firmly rejected a demand from the Office of the Speaker of Parliament to retract his recent statements and issue an unreserved apology within seven days.
This situation emerged after a statement released on May 28, 2024, by the Speaker’s Communications Unit, signed by Peter Bamfo, requested an apology from Martin Amidu.
In his response, Amidu argued that the statement addressed to the media does not qualify as a rejoinder to his publication dated May 26, 2024.
He insisted that he stands by his assertions and has no plans to retract or apologize for his statements.
Mr Amidu criticized Speaker Alban Bagbin for allegedly misusing public funds by seeking medical treatment in Dubai for conditions he believes could be managed within Ghana.
“I have read a statement from the Office of the Speaker of Parliament with reference number OP/SPK/K1/33 dated 28 May 2024 signed by one Peter Bamfo (Head-Speaker’s Communications Unit) “To All Media Houses” in which the “Speaker requests Mr. Amidu to do the honorable thing and withdraw his statement and apologize unreservedly to the Speaker of Parliament…within seven days from the date of the release of this rejoinder.
“First and foremost, the statement addressed to all media houses cannot be termed a rejoinder to my publication dated 26 May 2024. Secondly, I have done nothing for which I need to withdraw, retract, and apologize for within seven days to Mr. Bagbin who is dissipating the public purse needlessly in Dubai for health challenges which are treatable or manageable in Ghana,” he said.
Mr Amidu also raised concerns about an alleged meeting between Speaker Bagbin and President Akufo-Addo in Dubai, which he claimed influenced parliamentary proceedings regarding the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government.
On May 17, 2024, widespread reports emerged that former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu had filed a petition seeking the removal of his successor, Kissi Agyebeng.
Initial reports suggested that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice.
However, neither the petition nor the transmission letter from the executive to the judiciary has been publicly seen.
On the same day the report was published, a letter allegedly from the Chief Justice to the Special Prosecutor circulated. In this letter, the Chief Justice asks Agyebeng to respond to the contents of the supposed petition to determine if there is a prima facie case.
In a May 26, 2024, letter addressed to his political and media detractors, Amidu listed eight points denying authorship of the said petition.
Below are the points raised:
Firstly, I am not familiar with the signature of the Chief Justice – with reference to the purported letter from the CJ to SP, which is the only evidence he has sighted.
Secondly, the document attributed to the Chief Justice has no reference number as required by public records administration to avoid forgery of official documents.
Thirdly, as a former student of the Tamale Commercial Institute, the first commercial institute in Northern Ghana, I cannot fathom a Chief Justice writing and signing a document in which she will refer to herself as “the Honourable Chief Justice”.
Fourthly, I do not think that the Chief Justice would have written and signed the document attributed to her and have it published in the media or leaked to the media.
Fifth, the alleged document was addressed to only Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, whose media house, Joy FM, broke the supposed news at 6:00 am on 17 May 2024 when the Chief Justice’s document was dated the previous day, 16 May 2024.
Sixth, I cannot fathom that the Chief Justice if she is the author of the document attributed to her gave the addressee a fiat to source the document to Joy FM.
Seventh, Joy FM and the NDC have refused or failed to publish the letter from the Presidency to the Chief Justice or the alleged petition for purposes of authentication to enable a reasoned response from me as the Joy FM’s accused in its trial in the court of public opinion.
Finally, it is impossible for me to have written a petition under my signature and referred to Kissi Agyebeng as “Honourable Kissi Agyebeng” as alleged in the document attributed to the Chief Justice.
He stressed: “I expect the Chief Justice, if she really wrote the document making the rounds and did not publish or authorize its publication in the media, to react to the authenticity of the letter or the memorandum and its contents to put the public mind at rest or take such steps as will restore the integrity of the Judicial Service as not being part of my trauma resulting form my trial by Kissi Agyebeng, Joy FM, and the NDC in the court of public opinion.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has vehemently refuted claims made by former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu regarding a clandestine meeting with President Akufo-Addo in Dubai in 2021 prior to the 2022 budget rejection.
Bagbin’s office issued a statement denying any such meeting, clarifying that the Speaker has not engaged with the President outside of Ghana, branding the allegations as false, baseless, and lacking foundation.
The statement urged the public to disregard these claims, labeling them as part of an orchestrated effort to smear the Speaker’s reputation.
Bagbin’s office demanded a retraction and apology from Amidu, warning of further actions if not complied with.
It emphasized that the Speaker remains committed to his parliamentary duties despite unwarranted attacks like Amidu’s, stressing the importance of respecting parliamentary decisions as expressions of citizens’ voices through their elected representatives.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has firmly denied accusations made by former special prosecutor Martin Amidu, who claimed that the Speaker had a secret meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Dubai in 2021, before the rejection of the 2022 budget.
In a statement, the Office of the Speaker demanded that Mr. Amidu retract his allegations and issue an apology. The statement also warned that if Mr. Amidu fails to comply, the Speaker will take all necessary legal actions to defend his reputation.
“The said publication is false, baseless and unfounded, and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.”
“The Rt. Hon, Speaker requests Mr. Amidu to do the honourable thing and withdraw his statements and apologise unreservedly to the Speaker of Parliament and indeed the Parliament of Ghana, with the same prominence as he made the false and malicious statements, within seven days from the date of the release of this rejoinder.
The failure of Mr Amidu to adhere to this request would leave the Rt. Hon. Speaker to no other option than to take all steps necessary within his rights to vindicate his name.”
The Office added that these unfounded allegations are part of a deliberate and calculated effort by certain individuals to damage the Speaker of Parliament’s reputation. However, it assured that these attempts would not be successful.
The statement also emphasized Mr. Bagbin’s long-standing record of distinguished and honest public service to Ghana, highlighting his unwavering commitment to prioritizing the interests of the Ghanaian people.
“The Rt Hon Speaker will not be deterred from carrying out his public service duties, guiding and providing leadership for Parliament even in the face of insinuations, unprovoked attacks and unfounded allegations like Mr. Amidu’s.”
“Mr. Martin Amidu must appreciate that the decisions taken on the floor of parliament is an extension of the voices of the citizens by the legislators who represent them distinctively,” the statement added.
The Office of the Speaker emphasized that the Speaker of Parliament, unlike the Deputy Speakers, does not vote in Parliament and, therefore, does not partake in its decision-making processes.
This is explicitly outlined in the 1992 Constitution and has been confirmed by rulings of the Supreme Court of Ghana.
“To re-state, it is false, malicious and a fabrication by Mr. Martin Amidu that the Speaker of Parliament had secretly met with the President before the rejection of the 2021 Budget. The Speaker has not met the President in Dubai or anywhere else outside the Republic of Ghana.”
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has rejected accusations leveled against him, alleging that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Accra-based Joy FM are orchestrating a public smear campaign against him.
In a letter published on May 26, 2024, Amidu addressed claims, denying that he had filed a petition for the removal of the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.
He cited recent statements by NDC chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah as evidence of the opposition’s support for the smear campaign against him conducted through Joy FM.
“The Martin Amidu I know, until this thing was done, I trusted that he was a very principled person. My faith in his being principled is badly shaken,” Amidu quoted Asiedu Nketiah as saying.
The former Attorney-General said the NDC chairman’s comments were “based on hearsay evidence of a petition I am alleged to have submitted to the President on 30 April 2024 for the removal of the Special Prosecutor.”
In response to a Joy FM report on May 17, 2024, Martin Amidu denied having petitioned the President for the removal of his successor and demanded to see the alleged petition, questioning both its authenticity and the motives behind the accusations.
“I cannot understand why the NDC will collaborate with Kissi Agyebeng’s preferred rented media house and his chief executioner, Sampson Lardy Anyenini, to make allegations against me without publishing the alleged petition on which the allegations are based,” Amidu stated.
Amidu expressed concerns about the purported involvement of the Chief Justice in the issue, questioning the authenticity of documents attributed to her.
He pointed out discrepancies in the documents and called for clarification to uphold the integrity of the Judicial Service.
“The alleged document was addressed to only Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, whose media house, Joy FM, broke the supposed news,” Amidu pointed out.
Additionally, Amidu accused his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, of obstructing investigations and collaborating with specific individuals to sway public opinion.
“Kissi Agyebeng has refused or failed to make available to Joy FM the facts and evidence on the National Lottery Authority/TekStart Africa Limited investigation in which he was the lawyer for one of the suspects,” Amidu claimed.
As per a statement cited by GhanaWeb, Amidu disclosed that he chose not to disclose many details about the investigation in 2020 due to the country’s election year and the sensitivity surrounding the identity of “Government Official 1” implicated in the scandal.
The former special prosecutor, who has previously served as Attorney General and Minister for Justice, claimed that he withheld information, including the alleged involvement of former President John Dramani Mahama and his brother Samuel Adam Mahama Foster, in the scandal.
“Does the fact that a court of law heard the charges against Samuel Adam Mahama Foster and his UK friends in the Airbus SE-Ghana case and issued an arrest warrant for them, resulting in the INTERPOL Red Notice, not signify beyond doubt that Government Official 1 is his elder brother, John Dramani Mahama, who was the Vice-President and later the President of Ghana at the time of the bribery loot of almost €5 million from the public purse?
“I led the Airbus SE investigation and showed the head of investigation at the OSP at the time, then Inspector Mark Karikari and his team, the hotels and leased apartment where Samuel Adam Mahama Foster and his UK friends resided, including the government property sold to Michael Abu Sakara Foster where Samuel Adam Foster claimed as his abode on the forms he filled at the Ghana Immigration Service at the Kotoka International Airport upon his first entry into Ghana with his UK friends,” Martin Amidu wrote.
He added, “Apart from acquiring all the immigration records of entry and departure from Ghana of Samuel Adam Mahama Foster and his UK friends as part of the Airbus SE-Ghana corruption investigation, I managed to secure bank accounts and statements of Samuel Adam Foster as supporting evidence.
I also showed the investigation team the office of Abu Sakara Foster at the T-junction at the Adabraka/Kokomlemle junction on the Kojo Thompson Road in case he was required for interrogation. This is how thorough the Airbus SE investigation was conducted by the OSP under my watch before I postponed the investigation to after the 2020 elections to avoid accusations of election interference.”
Amidu also said that he refused to inviteformer President Mahama forinterrogation because he didn’t want the OSP to be seen “as a tool of political electioneering campaign on behalf of the NPP government.”
He dared the former president and his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to reopen the investigation and invite “Scotland Yard” if they indeed claim to have committed no wrong should they come to power again.
“Asiedu Nketiah and John Mahama, if you claim to be incorruptible, kindly make a promise to Ghanaians that should you win the 2024 elections, you will invite Scotland Yard to conduct an investigation into the Airbus SE-Ghana scandal in which the American, British, French, and Spanish Governments already identified Government Official 1 as Samuel Adam Mahama Foster’s elder brother who served as Vice-President and President of Ghana.”
About the Airbus Scandal:
Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, was accused of paying bribes in Ghana during the sale of three military aircraft.
The aerospace company acknowledged hiring the brother of a prominent Ghanaian official as its consultant for the sale of the aircraft to the country.
Additionally, Airbus admitted to making payments to the consultant through a third party after its Compliance Unit raised concerns about the close relationship between the consultant and the senior Ghanaian official, who played a significant role in the military aircraft purchase.
Former President John Dramani Mahama was among the government officials implicated in the scandal, with former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu suggesting that the label “Government Official One” in the scandal referred to the former president.
In a communication during his tenure as Special Prosecutor, Amidu disclosed how John Mahama allegedly leveraged his position to secure a Ghanaian passport for his brother, Samuel Adam Mahama.
Martin Amidu said, “Amongst other reasons for the letter to the said Ministry, Samuel Adam Mahama’s elder brother of full blood, who without a doubt and the evidence available to this Office answers to the description of the elected Government Official 1, allegedly granted a denial interview to the Daily Graphic which published the same on June 20, 2020, fortunately containing suspected admissions that he is the elected Government Official 1 referred to in the UK judgement.
“Serving appointees of this government have been unable to obtain the voice recording of this interview to enable the Office to confront the former president with his own admissions in the interview as answering to the description of the brother of Samuel Adam Mahama as Intermediary 5.”
John Mahama, however, refuted theallegations and urged Martin Amidu,who was serving as Special Prosecutor at the time, to prosecute him if he was indeed the individual referred to as Government Official One.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has broken his silence for the first time since petitioning President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the removal of his successor, Kissi Agyebeng.
In a statement sent to the media, Amidu criticized Agyebeng and those defending the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s investigation of former Minister for Sanitation, Cecilia Dapaah, who has been accused of money laundering by the office.
He asserted his unwavering commitment to defending the Constitution of Ghana.
Describing Agyebeng as an ‘inexperienced and incompetent neophyte’ and citing multiple alleged violations of the constitution by the Special Prosecutor, Amidu stated that he could no longer continue in his role.
“My personal right to defend the 1992 Constitution and the due process of law guaranteed under it cannot be subjected to intimidation by any media house or any group of fellow citizens.
“Kissi Agyebeng is a wounded snake whose head needs to be decoupled from the OSP before the OSP infests the body politic with the very poisonous corruption the OSP was established to prevent and investigate, thereby destroying the 1992 Constitution,” part of the statement by Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, which is dated May 23, 2024, reads.
He added, “Those who nominated Kissi Agyebeng can continue to protect him, but I will not stop defending the basic ethics and principles of law enforcement and the 1992 Constitution, which I have done throughout my adult life as a citizen of Ghana.”
Background:
President Akufo-Addo has forwarded a petition to remove Kissi Agyebeng as Special Prosecutor to the Chief Justice.
The petition, dated April 30, 2024, was submitted by former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu and sent to Justice Gertrude Torkornoo on May 6, 2024.
Amidu cited procurement irregularities in acquiring vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and alleged misconduct involving judges and the administration of justice.
Additional accusations included violations of citizens’ rights through arrests and detentions, breaches of the right to information, and inappropriate staff appointments.
Following Article 146 of the Constitution, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo is assessing whether there is sufficient initial evidence to form a committee for Agyebeng’s potential impeachment.
She has requested that the Special Prosecutor respond to the issues raised in the petition.
The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has expressed his loss of faith in the principles of the esteemed legal luminary and former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
He stated that he once believed Mr. Amidu to be a very principled man until his recent petition to President Akufo-Addo, seeking the removal of Kissi Agyebeng as Special Prosecutor.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on May 23, he said, “The Martin Amidu I know, until this thing was done, I trusted that he was a very principled person. My faith in his being principled is badly shaken.”
This comment follows a petition, dated April 30, 2024, which Mr. Amidu sent to President Akufo-Addo and was subsequently forwarded to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo on May 6, 2024.
In his petition, Mr. Amidu alleged procurement breaches in the purchase of vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and abuses involving judges and the administration of justice.
He also cited violations of citizens’ rights through arrests and detentions, violations of the right to information, and improper appointments of personnel to the office.
According to the National Chairman of the NDC, the motive behind Mr. Amidu’s petition remains unclear to him.
He expressed surprise that Mr. Amidu, who once referred to President Akufo-Addo as the “Mother serpent of corruption,” would petition him to address perceived corrupt acts.
The NDC Chairman stated that Mr. Amidu’s decision to petition the President has weakened his credibility and undermined his previous efforts to fight corruption.
“He shouldn’t have done that at all. I am still trying to understand why. Comrade Martin, have you abandoned your view that Nana Akufo-Addo is the mother serpent of corruption? Or you still hold that view? If you still hold that view, when you came to a roadblock that I want to do this thing against finance minister and the president said no way, you resigned and came to open up.
“If your successor has come to a similar road block and the president is demanding his resignation, won’t you show solidarity? But you are rather making yourself the tool for the president to be able to achieve his objective of fighting those who are fighting corruption.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketia stated that he cannot support either Amidu or the Special Prosecutor until ongoing investigations are completed and more information is made available.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has criticized his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, for misleading Ghanaians by claiming to save millions of Ghana Cedis from payroll audits.
Mr Amidu finds the report released by the Office of the Special Prosecutor on the payroll audit nauseating.
“It is extremely worrisome that a non-existent entity had been designated as a functioning District Assembly Primary School and the data of the artificially created staff had found its way into the government payroll system for regular payments,” the report said.
“Further, some headteachers and heads of units were validating some persons whose whereabouts were unknown to them. Egregiously, some validators were validating persons who were, to the knowledge of the validators, deceased, retired or vacated their posts.
“Out of the sampled high-risk number of 1,265 persons represented on the payroll, the joint investigation and assessment cleared 1,020 persons as regularly validated. The Special Prosecutor promptly unfroze the blocked salaries of the verified regularly validated persons upon the timeous clearance by the joint team, and these persons have been restored on the payroll system. A total amount of Two Million Eight Hundred and Fifty-Four Thousand One Hundred and Forty-Four cedis Eighty pesewas (GHC2,854,144.80) was traced as representing unearned monthly salaries being paid to persons who are deceased, retired, vacated their posts, flagged as missing staff, or whose whereabouts are unknown (colloquially referred to as “Ghost Names”) from their respective effective dates to January 2024, when it was blocked by the Special Prosecutor.
“The blockade of the amount of Two Million Eight Hundred and Fifty-Four Thousand One Hundred and Forty-Four cedis Eighty pesewas (GHC2,854,144.80) and the removal from Government Payroll of the corresponding deceased, retired, post vacators, the missing, and those whose whereabouts are unknown has saved the Republic an amount of Thirty-Four Million Two Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and ThirtySeven cedis Six pesewas (GHC34,249,737.6) for the 2024 financial year, and future savings of that amount (in addition to future periodic upward pay adjustments) for every year that the unearned-salaries-amount would have remained undetected but for the joint investigation and assessment by the OSP and CAGD of Government Payroll in the Northern Region (covering educational institutions under Ghana Education Service and Tamale Teaching Hospital).”
Politician Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has extended his condolences to those who have worked with former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu.
Media reports indicate that Amidu recently wrote to the President of Ghana, requesting the removal of current Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng.
The President has referred the petition to the Chief Justice to determine if there is a prima facie case.
Reacting to this development, A Plus expressed his disillusionment with Amidu, whom he once believed was committed to fighting corruption.
He now views Amidu as someone who uses his office to settle personal scores against his successors.
In a social media post, A Plus recounted his initial support for Amidu during his tenure as Attorney General, but highlighted his changing perspective after observing Amidu’s actions against successors Betty Mould-Iddrisu and Kissi Agyebeng.
A Plus wrote, “I was with the then vice president, John Dramani Mahama, at the castle the day Martin Amidu was sacked as attorney general. At the time, I believed his commitment to fighting corruption and upholding justice was crucial for our country’s progress.”
“However, with the benefit of hindsight and witnessing what he did to Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who succeeded him, and what he has done to Kissi Agyebeng, who also succeeded him as SP after this crybaby was removed for failing to apply common sense and running the OSP with emotions, hatred, pettiness, and a burning desire to waste taxpayer’s money on settling his personal scores, I have now come to understand clearly why he was sacked. My condolences to everyone who has spent an hour of their precious lives working with this monster.”
Recent media reports suggest that Amidu penned a letter to the Ghanaian President, urging for the dismissal of Kissi Agyebeng.
The President has forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice for further investigation.
In response, A Plus expressed his initial belief that Amidu was advocating for the common good. However, he now perceives Amidu as someone who prioritizes personal grievances over public interest, particularly when it comes to his successors.
His post read, “I was with the then vice president, John Dramani Mahama, at the castle the day Martin Amidu was sacked as attorney general. At the time, I believed his commitment to fighting corruption and upholding justice was crucial for our country’s progress.”
“However, with the benefit of hindsight and witnessing what he did to Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who succeeded him, and what he has done to Kissi Agyebeng, who also succeeded him as SP after this crybaby was removed for failing to apply common sense and running the OSP with emotions, hatred, pettiness, and a burning desire to waste taxpayer’s money on settling his personal scores, I have now come to understand clearly why he was sacked.
1.Martin Amidu’s petition rests on 6 issues; 2.Accroachment of Authority 3.Inducement of Staff from sister law enforcement agencies 4.Abuse of citizens’ rights through arrests and detention 5.Abuse of the Judiciary 6.Procurement breaches 7.Refusal to comply with RTI requests. 8.1.1 Accroachment of Authority
Mr. Martin Amidu alleges it is the president who should have appointed staff of the OSP and not the Special Prosecutor. He alleges the SP accroached the powers of the president when he engaged the services of three directors when he did not have a board.
He pointed out in many words that he had mainly sought the secondment of staff to his Office with the approval of the President when he did not have a board. However, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng did not seek approval from the president.
1.2 Inducement of Staff from sister Law Enforcement Agencies
The former Special Prosecutor alleges that the current Special Prosecutor recruited staff from sister law enforcement agencies, particularly the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the Ghana Police Service by inducing them with higher salaries and higher ranks.
Mr Amidu attached resignation letters he officially obtained from EOCO (markd restricted) who are now working with the OSP. He also attached RTI requests he made to Ghana Police Service for names and ranks of officers who have resigned to join the OSP. Police did not provide official resignation letters but a write up.
1.3 Abuse of citizens’ rights through arrests and detention
Mr. Martin Amidu alleges that the OSP’s handling of cases involving Madam Cecila Dapaah, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, Col. Damoah and Joseph Adu Kyei (Customs Division of GRA) and Ms. Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh (Chief Executive of Labianca and a member of the Council of State) amounted to an abuse of the rights of these citizens through the arrests and detentions made by the OSP.
Mr. Amidu attached the entire court documents filed at the High Court from start to finish of the Cecilia Dapaah’s case to his petition as exhibit.
1.4 Abuse of the Judiciary
In a media briefing in November 2023, the Special Prosecutor told the press that there appeared to be a developing trend of rather regressive and dismissal judicial decisions involving OSP cases. The OSP provided four examples of rulings by the Court that appeared to ignore the law, or reason, or both.
Mr. Martin Amidu alleges that this “criticism” is tantamount to abuse of the Judiciary. He attached an article he wrote on 3 December 2023 criticising the SP as evidence of judicial abuse.
1.5 Procurement Breaches
The former Special Prosecutor alleges that the OSP had breached Procurement rules in its refurbishment of the new office complex and procurement of vehicles. The only exhibit he attached is an RTI request to Public Procurement Authority for documentations covering such transactions. PPA denied request for the information on the basis that they are not OSP.
1.6 Refusal to comply with RTI Requests
Mr. Martin Amidu also alleges that the OSP did not grant him information with several Right to Information requests made by him. Mr. Amidu requested that the OSP to provide him with the appointment letters and salary details of all OSP staff on a pen drive. And details on the specialised vehicles by the OSP.
The Co-Chair of the Citizens Movement Against Corruption, Edem Senanu, has suggested that former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu is concerned about his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, potentially outshining him.
This statement comes in the wake of Amidu’s petition seeking Agyebeng’s removal from office.
The petition, dated April 30, 2024, was addressed to President Akufo-Addo by Martin Amidu and forwarded to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo on May 6, 2024. Amidu’s allegations against Agyebeng include procurement breaches in the acquisition of vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and abuses involving judges and the administration of justice.
Additional claims involve violations of citizens’ rights through arrests and detentions, breaches of the right to information, and improper appointments of personnel to the office.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on May 17, Mr. Senanu described Martin Amidu’s stance as troubling.
“It’s more like ‘nobody should occupy that office who is able to do much more or shine more than me’ and so there have been all these epistles and comments, and for me, to the credit of the current office holder, Mr. Kissi Agyabeng, he has refused to jump into that public discourse of blow for blow..
“I am also concerned because of the inconsistencies. I mean, you cannot call the President mother serpent of all corruption in one breath and in the next breath be writing to the same institution and be saying somebody else should be removed from office while believing and apparently trusting that same institution.
“This kind of flip-flopping leaves us with the impression that you can change your stand at any time on issues and so it is a big concern for me”.
The Co-Chair of the Citizens Movement Against Corruption criticized former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu for not fully utilizing his authority during his tenure.
“Some of the things he mentioned, like speaking against the judges, I find ridiculous. I mean, office holders as high up as the OSP cannot speak their minds when they think something is going wrong and for me, I thought that was important because the judiciary responded.
“The Chief Justice then reached out and said, let us have discussions, and from where I stand, one of the key things that has been on my mind is, ‘how do agencies like the OSP, anti-corruption agencies work with the judiciary to have fast-track anti-corruption courts with specialised personnel who understand our terrain?,” he stressed.
Mr. Senanu observed that despite having the power to effect significant changes, Mr. Amidu chose to resign and is now targeting his successor, Kissi Agyebeng.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has intensified his criticism of the Ahwoi family in a recent epistle, suggesting that they are aiming to establish permanent control over the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In the document titled “The NDC Sups With The Devil At The Church Street Offices Of The Ahwois And Their Cohort – John Mahama’s Running Mate Saga,” Amidu highlighted the late Jerry John Rawlings’ reservations about the family.
While Amidu did not elaborate on Rawlings’ concerns, he indicated that the NDC’s founder had his own apprehensions regarding the Ahwois.
“I was one of a chosen few who had lunch with former President Jerry John Rawlings days before his hospitalization and never to return to our fold. I am, therefore, privy to what he thought of the Ahwois and their cohort on 28 October 2020 before his demise,” he stated.
Martin Amidu, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, revealed that a discussion he had with Jerry John Rawlings shortly before Rawlings’ death influenced his later statement.
Three years after Rawlings’ passing, Amidu expressed in a tribute that the Ahwoi family was attempting to erase Rawlings’ name from the history of the NDC, even posthumously.
“It explains my statement in my tribute to him on the third anniversary of his demise on 12 November 2023, ten days to Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s 72 birthday that:
“The traitors who used their acquaintance and friendship with you while you lived to project and create political acceptance amongst your followers are still planning to obliterate your name in the NDC you founded and still remain the founder. The takeover plot of the NDC by the traitors has intensified using surrogates after your journey to our ancestors. While we live, we shall continue to fight to bear the torch you lit to emancipate Ghana and Africa,” he added.
Martin Amidu alleged in his epistle that the Ahwoi family might have privileged information about the health of John Dramani Mahama, the NDC flagbearer, compared to others.
He cited an instance where Kwesi Ahwoi commented, “prepare to be president because anything can happen,” to Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the party’s 2024 running mate, implying inside knowledge.
Amidu suggested that Prof Naana’s selection was orchestrated by the Ahwoi family to further their control over the NDC, as she is seen as a ‘surrogate’ of the family.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has suggested that there might be undisclosed information about the health condition of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, which the Ahwois are keeping from the public.
In response to the viral video and news reports regarding Kwesi Ahwoi’s statements during a party at the Ahwois’ office in Labone affirming Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s nomination as the National Democratic Congress’s running mate, Amidu indicated that those remarks were not simply a slip of the tongue.
In his recent epistle, Amidu explained that it is unlikely for Kwesi Ahwoi, a former Minister for The Interior and Ambassador to South Africa with expertise in security, intelligence, and diplomacy, to misspeak unless he possesses additional knowledge about Mahama’s health.
Implying that the Ahwois may have ulterior motives, Amidu cautioned John Mahama to be vigilant, even with Prof Naana Jane’s nomination, suggesting a deeper agenda within the Ahwoi family to control the NDC.
“The Ahwois and their cohort were so carried away by the success of hoodwinking John Mahama into nominating their surrogate as his running mate for the 2024 elections that they could not wait for the flagbearer to formally outdoor his running mate to the rank and file of the NDC. The Ahwois decided to exhibit their ownership of the NDC by organizing a special celebration of their feat in achieving the renomination of their surrogate, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, as the NDC running mate at their offices on Church Street, Labone.
“Kwesi Ahwoi, who had assumed the spokesmanship for the Ahwois and their cohort of the Church Street cabal, was so carried away with excitement that he made public what the cohort had been saying in the dark and whispering in the private rooms of their kitchen cabinet.
“John Dramani Mahama’s date of birth is 29 November 1958, while that of the Ahwois’ surrogate, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, is 22 November 1951. Consequently, if the Ahwois and their Church Street cohort are already thinking of John Mahama’s passing before the end of his four-year term, then there must be something they are privy to about John Mahama’s health status that Ghanaians do not know.
“The possibility that in addition to whatever health problems of John Mahama may be known to the Ahwois and their cohort, is there also a kitchen cabinet plan to send John Mahama to sleep early, like Professor Mills, should he perchance win the 2024 elections, to make assurance double sure that their enterprise for their surrogate to become President before 2024 and, therefore, face no opposition for the nomination for 2028 NDC flagbearership?” he wrote.
Martin Amidu further indicated that the supposed riposte from Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang to Kwesi Ahwoi immediately he made those ‘prepare to be president because anything could happen’ was not genuine.
He added that she only made those comments to smartly dissuade attention from the real intent of the Ahwois, who he described as a surrogate of the founding members of the National Democratic Congress.
“It was a crafty conspiratorial way of wishing John Mahama good health as a way of not giving out the plot of the Church Street cabal. One just has to read Lady Macbeth’s reception of Duncan King of Scotland and the plans already laid out for his treasonous murder that night in Shakespear’s Macbeth to understand the theatrics that was unfolding at the Church Street celebratory drama of the Ahwois,” he added.
According to Amidu, the Ahwois celebrated prematurely, revealing their desire for dominance within the NDC by organizing a special event to commemorate the renomination of their chosen candidate.
He speculated that the Ahwois might have inside information about Mahama’s health, given the significant age difference between him and Prof Naana Jane, leading to concerns about his longevity in office if he were to win the 2024 elections.
Furthermore, Amidu questioned the authenticity of Prof Naana Jane’s response to Kwesi Ahwoi’s remarks, suggesting it was a strategic move to divert attention from the Ahwois’ true intentions.
In Amidu’s view, the Ahwois’ actions mirror the manipulative tactics portrayed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, implying a clandestine plot within the NDC.
Anybody who presumed the President of Ghana was going to sign the private member’s bill on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values (LGBTQ+ Bill) when it was eventually passed and presented for his assent has not studied the political biography of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo before and upon his assumption of office as President.
I had no doubt in my mind that no admonishment from any quarters, religious, cultural, social, or otherwise would persuade Nana Akufo-Addo to sign it when presented to him. Those who had conversations with me long before Parliament began to consider and pass the Bill will confirm my position on this matter.
As I told my interlocutors then, “self-preservation is the first law of nature” and Nana Akufo-Addo will be committing suicide to assent the LGBTQ+ Bill passed by Parliament into law. Nana Akufo-Addo’s long game, the aura he has built around himself as a democrat in the Western tradition, and all the ingratiation efforts he has invested in, will come to nought should he assent to the Bill upon passage. The fact that other citizens closely watching the Ghanaian political scene knew the difficulty the Bill was going to face when it got to the desk of the President was articulated by no less a person than Minority Leader Ato Forson.
Myjoyonline.com reported on 7 February 2024 while the anti-LGBTQ bill was under consideration in Parliament that Parliament had misgivings whether the President will assent to the bill when it is passed by Parliament. These misgivings led the Minority Leader Ato Forson to have stated that:
“There are rumours out there that after passage, the president did not sign it into law. However, the constitution envisioned this, and it said the House will have to use a certain approach which is the House using the two-thirds majority of members to approve it. So let us deal with the first hurdle and get it passed and then send it to the President and if he fails to assent, we will take a decision.”
The LGBTQ+ Bill has now allegedly been passed even though the public and electorate is being informed that the proponents of the bill and the Speaker have as yet to be presented with the final bill as compiled by the Parliamentary Draft Person for presentation to the President for his possible assent. Even before the Bill is forwarded by the Speaker of Parliament for the assent of the President proponents and the opposers of the Bill, with the President openly on the side of the opponents of the Bill, have stated where they stand on whether or not the Bill should be assented.
I am not surprised that while the Bill was purely a matter being passed through Parliament and the saying that “what happens in Parliament is a closed book and the courts will not interfere in the internal working of Parliament”, the Supreme Court has already been invited to the Bar of politics to decide on a Bill which has not left Parliament to the Presidency. The two major political parties in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Government and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in opposition have so politicized the constitutional democracy of this country in such a manner that the only denominator for truth is who can lie his way into power at the next elections. The human political actors on both sides of the political divide, including the arms of government, are so fixated on power that they find it difficult to reach compromises necessary in every democracy for the substance of constitutional rule.
While the NDC wishes to form the next government using the outcome of the LGBTQ+ Bill as one of the crux of its political campaign strategy, the NPP understands the implications of the political game being played with the Private Members Bill largely championed by the NDC. I can bet that the debate about whether or not to assent to the LGBTQ+ Bill will prolong up to and after the 2024 elections without the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill coming into force as an enactment.
Nana Akufo-Addo will not commit suicide in the few months remaining for his Presidency to end and his hope of handing over to his chosen surrogate. Nana Akufo-Addo has come a long way since the bad press attributed to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) of allegations against him for taking donation from a drug dealer brother-in-law whose seized assets he allegedly returned as the Attorney-General for his political survival. Nana Akufo-Addo reinvented himself. Attempts to use these allegations by his political opponents in the 2016 presidential election failed, and he became President of Ghana. He has since rehabilitated himself, placed his administration within the obit of the geopolitical West and has curried favours with them.
The problem with the endemically partisan and divided parasitic political elite and middle-class Ghanaian upon whom the sustenance of constitutionalism, democracy and the rule of law depends is its incremental development of emotional and ideological attachment to secular, religious and cultural ideologies which affects their bank of knowledge when assessing objective reality and phenomenon. The self-interest of the parasitic political elite, and the middle class has come to triumph over community, societal and national interest. Otherwise, the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo will not assent to any bill that offends the sensibilities of the friends he has cultivated in the geopolitical West has been lying in plain view since 7 January 2017.
Nana Akufo-Addo had to reinvent himself by ingratiation to those who previously considered him a beneficiary of drug trafficking and money laundering. Why does anybody think most of the policies of the Akufo-Addo government are western-centred? The profuse outward display of sorrow and mourning upon the death of Prince Philip, and the solicitation by the President to be invited to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral when he went to sign the book of condolence at the British High Commission were intended for both Ghanaian and international consumption of fidelity to our colonial masters – the typical Comprador behaviour of the Gold Coast born Ghanaian. What of when Nana Akufo-Addo arranged on a private visit to the United Kingdom to meet the newly crowned King Charles III and had the encounter splashed in the Ghanaian media?
What does the political elite and middle class call the television broadcast of President Nana Akufo-Addo sitting before a US Secretary of State, not the President of the United States, and bringing the reputation of a neighbouring country, Burkina Faso, into disrepute by claiming without proof that: “Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there.”?
Ghanaian patriots and nationalists who seek the sovereignty of our country free from geopolitical interferences from the contending hegemons for world supremacy know that the northern border from Kulungugu/Widana to Hamile is being dotted with security barracks and encampments in the name of fighting terrorism and encroachment of undesirable elements from our northern neighbouring countries. Hopefully, these are not intended as the basis for other foreign security establishments to secure a permanent partnership with Ghana without Parliamentary approval in the geopolitical fight for world hegemony. In all these things, one cannot objectively overlook the intention of the opposite hegemons of using Africa as a springboard for geopolitical hegemony.
Where do we place the outspoken support Nana Akufo-Addo has displayed of partisanship in the Russian-Ukraine war or Special Military Operations depending on which side one supports; and the Israeli-Palestinian war of attrition? The fact that Ghana under the Nana Akufo-Addo regime has ceased to be nonaligned and become partisan in international politics just as it has divided the country cannot be doubted by anyone applying the methodology of conducting biographical research of Nana Akufo-Addo’s presidency using a qualitative philosophy and methods of research approach.
A digression! Whilst the NPP is thinking forward about how to carry its supporters along in finding a decent way to avoid committing itself to the LGBTQ+ Bill, the NDC is busy alienating some of its core revolutionary cadre supporters by mortgaging the legacy of its leader and founder, Jerry John Rawlings to the Ahwois and their cohorts who want to hijack the NDC from the Rawlings’ tradition and have imposed their surrogate, Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman as the running mate on their cocooned Presidential candidate without adequate consultation and consensus.
The perception by those who have gone along with the Ahwois and their cohort as the current owners of the NDC in the hope that they can mobilize cadres of the 31 December Revolution to change things in 2028 should the NDC manage to assume power in 2024 would regret their folly in acceding to this imposition intended to obliterate the image of Jerry John Rawlings from the history of the NDC in favour of the authors who wrote and endorsed falsehoods intended to betray President Rawlings in his lifetime and for posterity.
What the NDC needs now for its viability is an open and honest dialogue with the cadres of the 31 December Revolution, its former appointees including all former Members of Parliament, and the grassroots that sustained it since 1992 and not arrogant antagonism and covert claim to ownership of the NDC by the Ahwois and their cohorts.
Meanwhile, the NPP’s Attorney-General has smartly detailed in the Daily Graphic of 29 February 2024 how the country was saved tens of trillions of cedis arising out of the President’s SONA from the African Automobile Company Limited against the then Ministry of Employment and Manpower and the Attorney-General in judgment debt settlement originating from 2009. This brings to the fore again the issue of the Ministry of Local Government and African Automobile Limited’s Gallopers unconstitutional judgment debt settlement agreements in July 2011.
Ghanaians await the response of the current owners of the NDC who were in charge of entering into those transactions. My answer to the unconstitutional conduct in the settlement with the same African Automobile Company Limited on the Gallopers contract in July 2011 was clearly stated and reported by Modern Ghana and can be found on: There Is Massive Rot At A-G’s Office – Martin Amidu (modernghana.com).
I have from my experiential learning and knowledge of the Akufo-Addo regime written about his long game since he lost the 2008 presidential election and promised that never under his watch will he allow his successor from the NPP to lose an election. The developed countries of the world with all their sophisticated security and intelligence apparatus are daily accusing each other of interfering in the electoral processes of each other.
Only the blind cannot see that if these hegemons can interfere in the elections of each other for geopolitical reasons then elections in developing countries are easier to manipulate by either hegemon depending on the stranglehold they have over particular developing country regimes and the protection of turf.
Nana Akufo-Addo is too clever and cynical to alienate the powers he has painstakingly cultivated and sold Ghana to during his tenure in office on the polarizing politicized issue of assenting to the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill” to jeopardize his long game to break the eight.
Anti-corruption advocate and former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has opined that the governing New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, holds a significant advantage due to his youth and versatility.
Mr Amidu emphasized that this advantage positions Bawumia for potential re-elections, unlike the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) candidate, John Mahama, who is older and has limited attempts at the presidency.
Highlighting the NPP’s incumbency advantage in the upcoming 2024 General Elections, Mr Amidu urged the NDC to focus on convincing Ghanaians with substantive messages rather than relying on slogans.
He pointed out the NPP’s executive power and influence on electoral processes and security agencies, acknowledging that despite President Akufo-Addo’s strategic plans, the 2024 elections are not predetermined.
Mr Amidu advised the NDC to attract disenchanted individuals from various political affiliations by rallying behind the theme “Build The Ghana We Want Together.”
He emphasized the NDC’s challenge of presenting a candidate limited to a single four-year term, aiming to dispel comparisons to short-lived presidencies like that of Jimmy Carter.
“The NPP has the advantage of being in government and exercising executive power with its attendant tacit influence on the electoral processes and security agencies. The NPP has a younger and more versatile Presidential Candidate who would still be young beyond elections 2024 and 2028. The NPP knows that the 2024 elections is not a fait accompli for it despite President Akufo-Addo’s long game to succeed himself with a surrogate. The NDC must also not be deceived with poll numbers or outward public displeasure with the regime because there is still some time to the elections. Anything could happen,” Mr Amidu noted.
He continued: “The NDC on the other hand needs to entice everybody disgruntled with his present condition of life across political party lines to support its call to “Build The Ghana We Want Together” and, therefore, it has a more daunting task. Secondly, the NDC is presenting a Presidential Candidate who can assume the reins of government for only four years as a former President to nullify the perception of a Jimmy Carter-like presidency that is terminated after his first term in office. But it is in the interest of the NDC that after face-saving, the NDC must be able to win a second term of four years with a successor to John Mahama who has age on his or her side. The impression must never be created that the NDC is still not sure of contesting and winning the 2024 elections and hopes to put forward its Presidential Candidate for re-election in the 2028 election again.”
He stressed the importance of the NDC securing a second term with a successor to John Mahama, reinforcing the perception of confidence in contesting and winning the 2024 elections.
In a critical note, Amidu criticized both the NDC and NPP for allowing party elites to unduly influence the selection of running mates, a practice he deemed contrary to the dictates of the 1992 Constitution.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has criticized President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the current state of the country.
In an editorial published on GhanaWeb, Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, accused President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia of deceiving Ghanaians about their commitment to fighting corruption.
According to Mr Amidu, corruption has become more widespread during their administration.
He stated that the president and vice president used his criticism of former President John Dramani Mahama in 2015 to create a false impression that they would combat corruption if elected, leading Ghanaians to vote for them.
“…I spoke to Joy FM and MultiTV’s news analysis programme, Newsfile, on or about 14 November 2015 which supported the Nana Akufo-Addo/Mahamudu Bawumia pretensions of being incorruptible and the messiahs to stop corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and use our natural resources for the benefit of Ghanaians.
“Ghanaians believed their pretensions and false promises only to find us swindled as a nation and brought to hunger and deprivation by the duo. Corruption and cronyism have reached an apogee never witnessed in the history of this country,” he wrote.
Mr Amidu made these remarks while criticizing Nana Akomea, a deputy chairperson and strategist of the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) campaign team, for using his 2015 interview to gain political advantage.
“It, therefore, smacks of dishonest opportunism to quote what I said in 2015 in the hope of a better alternative offered by the deception of Ghanaians by the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia duo,” he added.
The current government has been accused of creating a conducive environment for corruption to thrive although it has refuted such claims.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu launched a blistering attack on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, accusing them of deceiving Ghanaians about their commitment to fighting corruption.
Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, asserted that corruption has flourished under their administration, despite their promises to eradicate it.
Amidu highlighted his previous criticism of former President John Dramani Mahama in 2015, which he claimed was exploited by Akufo-Addo and Bawumia to portray themselves as incorruptible leaders who would stamp out corruption if elected. However, Amidu asserted that their administration has presided over an unprecedented level of corruption and cronyism, contrary to their campaign promises.
He condemned Nana Akomea, a deputy chairperson and strategist of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), for attempting to use Amidu’s 2015 interview to score political points. Amidu characterized this as “dishonest opportunism” and criticized the NPP’s deception of Ghanaians.
Amidu did not mince words in his assessment of President Akufo-Addo, whom he described as the “mother serpent of corruption.” He accused the president of obstructing his efforts to investigate the Agyapa Royalties Transaction deal, which Amidu labeled as the biggest corrupt deal in Ghana since independence.
Reflecting on his resignation in 2020, Amidu recounted his “traumatic experience” and accused President Akufo-Addo of breaching his presidential oath by unlawfully obstructing his investigation into the Agyapa Royalties Transaction.
Amidu’s scathing critique underscores the growing disillusionment with the current government’s handling of corruption and its failure to live up to its anti-corruption rhetoric. His revelations have sparked widespread debate and scrutiny of the administration’s integrity and commitment to good governance.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has entered the fray surrounding recent commentary on the use of tribal invectives in front-line politics, expressing dissatisfaction with what he perceives as selective quoting and hypocrisy.
The controversy was ignited by Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, who labeled Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as a disgrace to northerners. Kwetey’s remarks triggered harsh reactions, particularly from the opposition.
Nana Akomea, a key member of the Bawumia for President 2024 campaign, condemned Kwetey’s rhetoric, citing its misplaced nature. Akomea referenced Amidu’s 2015 attack on former President Mahama in a radio interview, highlighting the NDC’s silence on similar invectives directed at their candidate at the time.
However, Amidu expressed discontent with Akomea’s response, accusing him of deliberate misrepresentation of the context in which he made the comments in 2015. Amidu emphasized Akomea’s silence when he himself faced tribal insults from an NPP Member of Parliament, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, who derogatorily referred to him using a colonial Akan insult on northerners.
Amidu’s rebuke of Akomea’s apparent hypocrisy was articulated in a piece dated February 22, where he warned both the NPP and NDC against selectively quoting him during the upcoming campaign season.
“When Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the NPP Member of Parliament, an Ashanti, pejoratively referred to me using a colonial Akan insult on northerners as ‘Konongo Kaya’ on Friday, 19 August 2022, the tribal undertones were not lost upon many northerners generally and reasonable patriotic Ghanaians. Almighty Nana Akomea endorsed the tribal insult by his NPP party colleague with his eerie silence,” Amidu’s piece read in part.
Amidu’s intervention underscores the contentious nature of tribal politics in Ghana and the need for a more responsible discourse among political actors. He called for an end to the selective use of his past remarks for political expediency and urged both parties to refrain from exploiting his words during the campaign season.
Read full story:
NANA AKOMEA SHOULD BE CAREFUL WHAT HE GETS BY QUOTING MY
INTERVIEWS OR ARTICLES WHEN CANDIDATES NANA AKUFO-ADDO/
BAWUMIA WERE GHANA’S PERCEIVED ANTI-CORRUPTION MESSIAHS & REDEEMERS: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) should be careful about quoting what I said or wrote in the past out of context to spuriously support allegations of corruption or mismanagement against each other for the purely propaganda purpose of deceiving the electorate for their votes and abandoning them thereafter. I hope that when eventually I determine by a considered examination and analysis of the facts and evidence the most corrupt of the two political parties they will each accept my verdict without question since I have become their authority on this issue.
Modern Ghana reported on 22 February 2024 with its source as Citinewroom the reaction of the NPP’s Nana Akomea, the Deputy Campaign Chairman for candidate Mahamudu Bawumia to alleged tribal remarks made by Fiifi Kwetey, the General Secretary of the NDC in which the latter described Mahamudu as a “disgrace to northerners.” Mr. Fiifi Kwetey is an Ewe from Southern Volta and to call Mahamudu as a “disgrace to northerners” evokes a legitimate question of using tribal pejoratives against Mahamudu.
When Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the NPP Member of Parliament, an Ashanti, pejoratively referred to me using a colonial Akan insult on northerners as “Konogo Kaya” on Friday, 19 August 2022, the tribal undertones were not lost upon many northerners generally and reasonable patriotic Ghanaians. Almighty Nana Akomea endorsed the tribal insult by his NPP party colleague with his eerie silence. It does appear to me to be the height of hypocrisy that when Fiifi Kwetey uses a similar pejorative insult on the person Nana Akomea is hoping to win the 2024 presidential election and appoint him to a juicy position, his reposit is to refer to a senior northerner warning his junior brother of the consequences of his conduct on the north.
I continue to see myself first and foremost as a northerner because I was born in the British Protectorate of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Colony (NT) to British protected persons deprived of the rights enjoyed by the British colonial subjects in the Gold Coast and Ashanti. The entire natives of the NT were pejoratively referred to as Northerners which our forebearer internalized and accepted as a distinct mark for the anti-colonial struggle and exhibition of a culture of honesty and integrity which the British found in all the tribes in the NT. The original pejorative reference to the people of the NT as northerners came to symbolize a culture of honour, integrity, valour, hard work, and unquestioned loyalty to the British Crown or whosoever the worker from the NT served in the colony. The pride of being a northerner from the NT found expression in the Northern People’s Party, the Northern Study Group, and the Northern Student’s Union for which I was the Secretary General in
1976/77 academic year. The concept of northerners became so accepted by the people of the NT to the extent that the scholarships created by Kwame Nkrumah to accelerate education and development to enable the NT after independence catch up with what had been the privileged colony was named the Northern Scholarship Grant.
It does not matter how many regions the Northern Region at independence is divided into to balkanize it. We of the old stock still see ourselves first and foremost as northerners, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and each other’s keeper, politics notwithstanding. I, therefore, had an inherent right as John Dramani Mahama’s northern senior brother to warn him about the consequences of treading a path which was non-northern in my view. What I said was culturally permissible as every senior in our culture has a right to warn every junior not to bring the north into disrepute. Nana Akomea cannot, therefore, honestly quote what I said or wrote about John Mahama in 2015 as an answer to what Fiifi Kwetey, a nonnortherner and junior in age to Mahamudu said about him except to deceive the unsuspecting electorate of an analogy, where none exits.
One ardent NPP supporter of Akan origin holding dual nationality resident in the comfort of the United States of America has referred to several northerners, including myself, who disagree with the NPP Government’s unprecedented corruption as “Frafra native from the Upper East Region.” He has consistently referred to John Mahama as “Okogufuo
Yagbonwura Kwame Gonja” without any objection or rebuke from the likes of Nana Akomea. The NPP’s gaping sycophant dual national sitting in the comfort of the USA went to the extent of describing the 1992 Constitution thus: “….the irredeemable travesty that is the largely National Democratic Congress-drafted and enacted Ghana’s 1992 Republican Constitution…” But now that Fiifi Kwetey has called the integrity of Nana Akomea’s future employer should Mahamudu win the 2024 presidential election into question, I, Martin Amidu, have become opportunist Nana Akomea’s bartering ram against Fiifi Kwetey and the NDC without the context and environment in which I spoke to Joy FM.
Where was the sense of propriety of opportunist Nana Akomea when Daniel Bugri Naabu (Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP) was reported on 21 November 2015 to have said that President Mahama is a disgrace to Northerners? See:Has President Mahama outwitted his political opponents? (ghanaweb.com). In picking on me, Nana Akomea is corruptly and hypocritically hiding the facts and evidence from the electorate that Bugri Naabu was between 1996 and 2000 a card bearing and leading member of the NDC. (See: Ghana: Prodigal Bugri Naabu Quits NDC for Good – allAfrica.com). Nana Akomea is also wishing away the fact that the electorate knows that the NPP Government appointed me as the first Special Prosecutor and I discovered the massive, suspected corruption and procurement malpractices offences in the 64-page Agyapa Royalties Transaction Report. Nana Akomea must be dishonestly pretending to be unaware that Fiifi Kwetey might just have been transferring by repeating what Bugri Naabu said in November 2015 to fit the circumstances and role of Mahamudu Bawumia as Vice-President in today’s Ghana.
Politicians like Nana Akomea may assume naively that Ghanaians are forgetful of the context, the circumstances, and the environment within which I spoke to Joy Fm and MultiTV’s news analysis programme, Newsfile, on or about 14 November 2015 which supported the Nana Akufo-Addo/Mahamudu Bawumia pretensions of being incorruptible and the messiahs to stop corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and use our natural resources for benefit of Ghanaians. Ghanaians believed their pretensions and false promises only to find us swindled as a nation and brought to hunger and deprivation by the duo. Corruption and cronyism have reached an apogee never witnessed in the history of this country. It, therefore, smacks of dishonest opportunism to quote what I said in 2015 in the hope of a better alternative offered by the deception of Ghanaians by the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia duo.
I have stated elsewhere that the 2024 presidential election is going to be a contest between the lesser of two evils under the 1992 Constitution. In making that decision the non-sycophantic reasonable electorate may have to weigh the effects of the biblical and koranic edicts on punishment and repentance, and continued sin camouflaged with polished deception. John Dramani Mahama and Mahamudu Bawumia are both my northern brothers and it is dangerous for both the NDC and the NPP to seek to use what I said or wrote before the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Siamese twins assumed the governance of this country on 7 January
2017 to date. Remember that I worked with this regime and may be privy to things Nana Akomea and his like cannot fathom. Nana Akufo-Addo knows how lethal I could be if the NPP puts temptation in my path.
I wish the better of the two, John Mahama and Mahamudu Bawumia, win the 2024 presidential election through decent campaigning and speaking truth to the electorate. Should both sides drag my name into their affray and compel me to speak out as a senior northerner those who baited me should not blame me. I need nothing from John Mahama or Mahamudu Bawumia when either of them wins the 2024 elections just as I took nothing from the Nana
Akufo/Bawumia governments. “A word to the wise,” we use to jokingly say at the Bawku Middle Mixed Boarding School in the early 1960’s, “is in the North.”
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has entered the fray surrounding recent commentary on the use of tribal invectives in front-line politics, expressing dissatisfaction with what he perceives as selective quoting and hypocrisy.
The controversy was ignited by Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, who labeled Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as a disgrace to northerners. Kwetey’s remarks triggered harsh reactions, particularly from the opposition.
Nana Akomea, a key member of the Bawumia for President 2024 campaign, condemned Kwetey’s rhetoric, citing its misplaced nature. Akomea referenced Amidu’s 2015 attack on former President Mahama in a radio interview, highlighting the NDC’s silence on similar invectives directed at their candidate at the time.
However, Amidu expressed discontent with Akomea’s response, accusing him of deliberate misrepresentation of the context in which he made the comments in 2015. Amidu emphasized Akomea’s silence when he himself faced tribal insults from an NPP Member of Parliament, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, who derogatorily referred to him using a colonial Akan insult on northerners.
Amidu’s rebuke of Akomea’s apparent hypocrisy was articulated in a piece dated February 22, where he warned both the NPP and NDC against selectively quoting him during the upcoming campaign season.
“When Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the NPP Member of Parliament, an Ashanti, pejoratively referred to me using a colonial Akan insult on northerners as ‘Konongo Kaya’ on Friday, 19 August 2022, the tribal undertones were not lost upon many northerners generally and reasonable patriotic Ghanaians. Almighty Nana Akomea endorsed the tribal insult by his NPP party colleague with his eerie silence,” Amidu’s piece read in part.
Amidu’s intervention underscores the contentious nature of tribal politics in Ghana and the need for a more responsible discourse among political actors. He called for an end to the selective use of his past remarks for political expediency and urged both parties to refrain from exploiting his words during the campaign season.
Read full story:
NANA AKOMEA SHOULD BE CAREFUL WHAT HE GETS BY QUOTING MY
INTERVIEWS OR ARTICLES WHEN CANDIDATES NANA AKUFO-ADDO/
BAWUMIA WERE GHANA’S PERCEIVED ANTI-CORRUPTION MESSIAHS & REDEEMERS: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) should be careful about quoting what I said or wrote in the past out of context to spuriously support allegations of corruption or mismanagement against each other for the purely propaganda purpose of deceiving the electorate for their votes and abandoning them thereafter. I hope that when eventually I determine by a considered examination and analysis of the facts and evidence the most corrupt of the two political parties they will each accept my verdict without question since I have become their authority on this issue.
Modern Ghana reported on 22 February 2024 with its source as Citinewroom the reaction of the NPP’s Nana Akomea, the Deputy Campaign Chairman for candidate Mahamudu Bawumia to alleged tribal remarks made by Fiifi Kwetey, the General Secretary of the NDC in which the latter described Mahamudu as a “disgrace to northerners.” Mr. Fiifi Kwetey is an Ewe from Southern Volta and to call Mahamudu as a “disgrace to northerners” evokes a legitimate question of using tribal pejoratives against Mahamudu.
When Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the NPP Member of Parliament, an Ashanti, pejoratively referred to me using a colonial Akan insult on northerners as “Konogo Kaya” on Friday, 19 August 2022, the tribal undertones were not lost upon many northerners generally and reasonable patriotic Ghanaians. Almighty Nana Akomea endorsed the tribal insult by his NPP party colleague with his eerie silence. It does appear to me to be the height of hypocrisy that when Fiifi Kwetey uses a similar pejorative insult on the person Nana Akomea is hoping to win the 2024 presidential election and appoint him to a juicy position, his reposit is to refer to a senior northerner warning his junior brother of the consequences of his conduct on the north.
I continue to see myself first and foremost as a northerner because I was born in the British Protectorate of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Colony (NT) to British protected persons deprived of the rights enjoyed by the British colonial subjects in the Gold Coast and Ashanti. The entire natives of the NT were pejoratively referred to as Northerners which our forebearer internalized and accepted as a distinct mark for the anti-colonial struggle and exhibition of a culture of honesty and integrity which the British found in all the tribes in the NT. The original pejorative reference to the people of the NT as northerners came to symbolize a culture of honour, integrity, valour, hard work, and unquestioned loyalty to the British Crown or whosoever the worker from the NT served in the colony. The pride of being a northerner from the NT found expression in the Northern People’s Party, the Northern Study Group, and the Northern Student’s Union for which I was the Secretary General in
1976/77 academic year. The concept of northerners became so accepted by the people of the NT to the extent that the scholarships created by Kwame Nkrumah to accelerate education and development to enable the NT after independence catch up with what had been the privileged colony was named the Northern Scholarship Grant.
It does not matter how many regions the Northern Region at independence is divided into to balkanize it. We of the old stock still see ourselves first and foremost as northerners, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and each other’s keeper, politics notwithstanding. I, therefore, had an inherent right as John Dramani Mahama’s northern senior brother to warn him about the consequences of treading a path which was non-northern in my view. What I said was culturally permissible as every senior in our culture has a right to warn every junior not to bring the north into disrepute. Nana Akomea cannot, therefore, honestly quote what I said or wrote about John Mahama in 2015 as an answer to what Fiifi Kwetey, a nonnortherner and junior in age to Mahamudu said about him except to deceive the unsuspecting electorate of an analogy, where none exits.
One ardent NPP supporter of Akan origin holding dual nationality resident in the comfort of the United States of America has referred to several northerners, including myself, who disagree with the NPP Government’s unprecedented corruption as “Frafra native from the Upper East Region.” He has consistently referred to John Mahama as “Okogufuo
Yagbonwura Kwame Gonja” without any objection or rebuke from the likes of Nana Akomea. The NPP’s gaping sycophant dual national sitting in the comfort of the USA went to the extent of describing the 1992 Constitution thus: “….the irredeemable travesty that is the largely National Democratic Congress-drafted and enacted Ghana’s 1992 Republican Constitution…” But now that Fiifi Kwetey has called the integrity of Nana Akomea’s future employer should Mahamudu win the 2024 presidential election into question, I, Martin Amidu, have become opportunist Nana Akomea’s bartering ram against Fiifi Kwetey and the NDC without the context and environment in which I spoke to Joy FM.
Where was the sense of propriety of opportunist Nana Akomea when Daniel Bugri Naabu (Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP) was reported on 21 November 2015 to have said that President Mahama is a disgrace to Northerners? See:Has President Mahama outwitted his political opponents? (ghanaweb.com). In picking on me, Nana Akomea is corruptly and hypocritically hiding the facts and evidence from the electorate that Bugri Naabu was between 1996 and 2000 a card bearing and leading member of the NDC. (See: Ghana: Prodigal Bugri Naabu Quits NDC for Good – allAfrica.com). Nana Akomea is also wishing away the fact that the electorate knows that the NPP Government appointed me as the first Special Prosecutor and I discovered the massive, suspected corruption and procurement malpractices offences in the 64-page Agyapa Royalties Transaction Report. Nana Akomea must be dishonestly pretending to be unaware that Fiifi Kwetey might just have been transferring by repeating what Bugri Naabu said in November 2015 to fit the circumstances and role of Mahamudu Bawumia as Vice-President in today’s Ghana.
Politicians like Nana Akomea may assume naively that Ghanaians are forgetful of the context, the circumstances, and the environment within which I spoke to Joy Fm and MultiTV’s news analysis programme, Newsfile, on or about 14 November 2015 which supported the Nana Akufo-Addo/Mahamudu Bawumia pretensions of being incorruptible and the messiahs to stop corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and use our natural resources for benefit of Ghanaians. Ghanaians believed their pretensions and false promises only to find us swindled as a nation and brought to hunger and deprivation by the duo. Corruption and cronyism have reached an apogee never witnessed in the history of this country. It, therefore, smacks of dishonest opportunism to quote what I said in 2015 in the hope of a better alternative offered by the deception of Ghanaians by the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia duo.
I have stated elsewhere that the 2024 presidential election is going to be a contest between the lesser of two evils under the 1992 Constitution. In making that decision the non-sycophantic reasonable electorate may have to weigh the effects of the biblical and koranic edicts on punishment and repentance, and continued sin camouflaged with polished deception. John Dramani Mahama and Mahamudu Bawumia are both my northern brothers and it is dangerous for both the NDC and the NPP to seek to use what I said or wrote before the Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Siamese twins assumed the governance of this country on 7 January
2017 to date. Remember that I worked with this regime and may be privy to things Nana Akomea and his like cannot fathom. Nana Akufo-Addo knows how lethal I could be if the NPP puts temptation in my path.
I wish the better of the two, John Mahama and Mahamudu Bawumia, win the 2024 presidential election through decent campaigning and speaking truth to the electorate. Should both sides drag my name into their affray and compel me to speak out as a senior northerner those who baited me should not blame me. I need nothing from John Mahama or Mahamudu Bawumia when either of them wins the 2024 elections just as I took nothing from the Nana
Akufo/Bawumia governments. “A word to the wise,” we use to jokingly say at the Bawku Middle Mixed Boarding School in the early 1960’s, “is in the North.”
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has issued a stern warning to both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), urging them not to involve him in their campaign strategies for the upcoming 2024 elections in Ghana.
In a recent write-up dated February 23, 2024, Amidu emphasized that he refuses to be dragged into the political agendas of either party, cautioning that any attempts to do so may lead to dire consequences. He emphasized that his patience has limits and hinted at potential explosive reactions if his name continues to be exploited for political gain.
Amidu, who served notice through a statement copied to MyNewsGh.com, highlighted that even President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is aware of his unwavering stance and would not dare provoke him. Having been a part of both the current regime and the previous NDC government, Amidu asserted his independence and warned that he would not hesitate to speak out if his name or past actions were used as reference points in the electioneering campaigns.
“I have stated elsewhere that the 2024 presidential election is going to be a contest between the lesser of two evils under the 1992 Constitution. In making that decision the non-sycophantic reasonable electorate may have to weigh the effects of the biblical and koranic edicts on punishment and repentance, and continued sin camouflaged with polished deception,” he remarked.
Moreover, Amidu emphasized the danger of exploiting his words or writings from the pre-Akufo-Addo/Bawumia era, cautioning both the NDC and the NPP against using them for their own political gains. He hinted at his potential knowledge of sensitive matters within the current regime, suggesting that he could be privy to information that others may not fully comprehend.
“Remember that I worked with this regime and may be privy to things Nana Akomea and his like cannot fathom. Nana Akufo-Addo knows how lethal I could be if the NPP puts temptation in my path,” he concluded.
Amidu’s warning underscores the delicate political landscape in Ghana as the country approaches the 2024 elections. His insistence on neutrality and refusal to be manipulated for political purposes serves as a reminder of the importance of integrity and independence in the electoral process.
Former Minister for the Interior during the Mills-Mahama administration, Mr. Martin Amidu, has urged voters to choose candidates whose promises are realistic.
He warned that failure to do so may result in the election of leaders who have no genuine interest in serving the electorate.
“As Ghana gets closer to the 2024 election season the NPP and the NDC are deploying various deceptive tools to win over the electorate whom they will each forget after securing the votes of the electorate to come to power for the next three years until the next election year,” he wrote in an opinion piece published on 3news.com.
In an opinion piece published on 3news.com, Amidu observes that as Ghana approaches the 2024 election season, both the NPP and the NDC are employing deceptive tactics to secure votes, only to forget the electorate once in power until the next election.
The former Deputy Attorney-General under the Rawlings administration emphasizes the need for the 2024 elections to be based on established facts and achievable projections.
He criticized the prevalent trend of empty promises from the major political parties without tangible plans for implementation.
Amidu, the immediate past Special Prosecutor, highlights that the election season has become a period of deception for the political elite, urging constitutional activists to expose such tactics. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on proven records and achievements rather than falling for deceptive promises.
With the Ghanaian elections scheduled for December 7, 2024, and the NPP and NDC having selected their candidates, attention now turns to the running mates of the presidential contenders, former President Mahama and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
As the campaign intensifies, Mahama promises a 24-hour economy, while Bawumia pledges to abolish taxes considered critical by the current administration for economic sustenance.
Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has weighed in on Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s presidential ambitions in a recent statement.
Mr Amidu’s three-page letter, dated February 15, 2024, addresses Bawumia‘s ‘Vision for Ghana’ speech delivered on February 7 at the UPSA auditorium.
After carefully analyzing the speech, Amidu concluded that Bawumia’s vision lacks originality and is merely a replication of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s rhetoric.
He criticized Bawumia for failing to present a distinct vision, suggesting that it mirrors Akufo-Addo’s strategy to deceive voters in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
“I have read Bawumia’s vision several times since I had time to do so after delivering my keynote address at the University for Development Studies on 8 February 2024 and he comes out to me like a copycat replica of the style and deceptive persuasiveness deployed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in winning the 2016 presidential elections,” he wrote.
He added that after winning the elections on both occasions, the Akufo-Addo-led government only reneged “on all the promises he made on taxes, use of natural resources for the benefits of the ordinary Ghanaian, the right of citizens to speak up and not be spectators: and above all the unprecedented unfulfilled plan and leadership commitment to fight corruption.”
Amidu disagreed with political opposition and commentators who suggested that Bawumia had distanced himself from President Akufo-Addo by proposing to scrap certain taxes.
“Bawumia’s vision is a repeat using a decoy to disguise a similar cajoling vision the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia team presented to the Ghanaian electorate at the 2016 elections.
“It is no different in form and substance from the deceptive vision team Akufo-Addo/Bawumia presented even at the 2020 elections when economic situations were exceedingly difficult.
“These visions have always been founded upon promises to ameliorate the harsh tax conditions the private sector and ordinary Ghanaians are facing daily in the marketplace,” he stressed.
Former member of the Constitutional and Legal Committee, Inusah Fusieni, has made explosive claims, asserting that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has been weaponized.
Mr Fusieni contends that the OSP, originally established to independently combat corruption, is now allegedly being exploited for political purposes, diverting from its intended mandate.
“We are learning a useful lesson from Martin Amidu, we are learning a useful lesson from Kissi Agyebeng and I think that somehow we have come to accept that the office has been weaponised, and I don’t think it will be in the interest of any political party to scrap that office,” he said on December 12, 2023,” he said.
He made the remarks in an interview with JoyNews where he argued that although both past and present Special Prosecutors have not successfully prosecuted anyone for corrupt practices, the mere fact the office exists can deter people from engaging in corrupt practices.
“Clearly, people know that the office exists, and even if they are not having prosecution, the fact that you can be sent to the Special Prosecutor’s office is enough deterrence and the periodic information given to the public on the number of cases being handled by the Special Prosecutor also goes some way in dealing with the issue of corruption,” he added.
The ex-Member of Parliament for Tamale Central emphasized that the primary focus should be on implementing measures to strengthen the office, ensuring its enhanced effectiveness and alignment with its intended purpose.
In response to the criticisms regarding the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) failure to secure a successful prosecution since its inception, he remarked that such a track record is inadequate, especially considering the significant investment made in establishing the office.
“The fact that we have not convicted even a single soul under that office of the special prosecutor is enough to worry,” he said.
The former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has accused the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, of have hidden 50 vehicles and cars from the Tema port, under the basement of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), last year.
He claimed that these vehicles were procured without following the proper procurement procedures and were not presented to the public as gifts or grants.
In a 15-page write-up titled “Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, Has Crossed the Redline by Scandalizing the Administration of Justice and Must Be Impeached: By Martin A. B. Amidu”, Mr Amidu said that he got to know this from informants and intelligence.
“I do not know whether the Special Prosecutor knows that tongues have been wagging from informants and intelligence, and in the media. I got to know that in 2022 the OSP took possession of over 50 operational vehicles and cars, some with bullet proof fortifications, from the Tema port which were hidden under the basement of the OSP.
The OSP did not have an operational procurement entity at the time to enable the OSP to procure them from its moneys approved by Parliament; internally generated funds, and grants approved by the Minister responsible for Finance in consultation with the Attorney-General. My information is that two of the vehicles driven from the Tema port in convey got involved in an accident on the Tema Motorway in which one of the vehicles became a complete write-off,” he wrote.
Amidu also questioned why the public had not heard or seen the President, Attorney-General or any entity presenting these over 50 vehicles as gifts to the OSP as is the usual practice with donations in the form of grants. Amidu suggests that a media briefing by the OSP would be essential to address public concerns and dispel suspicions regarding potential violations of procurement laws in the acquisition of these vehicles.
“The public has not heard or seen the President, Attorney-General or any entity presenting these over 50 vehicles as gifts to the OSP as is the usual practice with donations in the form of grants. A media briefing by the OSP will assuage public suspicions of violations of the procurement law in their procurement.”
Amidu resigned from his position as the Special Prosecutor in November 2020, citing interference from the President and other government officials in his work. He also accused the President of being a “mother serpent of corruption” and of failing to protect the independence of the OSP.
The current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, was appointed in July 2021, after a vetting process by the Parliament. He has vowed to fight corruption without fear or favour and to uphold the mandate of the OSP. He has also denied any links or allegiance to any political party or person.
The OSP is an independent agency established in 2018 to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption involving public officers and politically exposed persons. It is also mandated to recover and manage the proceeds of corruption.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has been rocked by allegations of bribery, corruption and nepotism, according to a statement by the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
Amidu, in a 15-page statement sighted by The Independent Ghana, accuses Agyebeng of crossing constitutional boundaries and defying Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
In the statement, titled “Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, Has Crossed the Redline by Scandalizing the Administration of Justice and Must Be Impeached”, Amidu, who resigned from his position in November 2020, claimed that he received information and intelligence from informants and the media that a friend of the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, “from the mountains”, was demanding and receiving “bribes “consideration” from suspects under investigation by the OSP.
Amidu said that the friend of Agyebeng, whose identity was not disclosed, was allegedly using the bribes to tamper with the preliminary and full investigations of the cases, and to influence the decisions to continue or drop the cases, and to prosecute or acquit the suspects in court. He said that this was a serious breach of the mandate and integrity of the OSP, which is supposed to investigate and prosecute corruption and corruption-related offences.
“I do not know whether the Special Prosecutor knows that tongues have been wagging from informants and intelligence, and in the media that a friend of the Special Prosecutor from the mountains usually demands and receives considerations allegedly for the benefit of the OSP during the preliminary investigation and full investigations of case to tamper with the resultant threats to continue with the case and to prosecute the suspects in court,” he said.
Amidu also alleged that some of the suspects who were under investigation by the OSP were either relatives or friends or former clients of Agyebeng or his staff, and that some of the cases were suppressed or delayed because of these connections. He said that some of the suspects who could not afford to pay bribes to the OSP’s friend or staff had to suffer long periods of incarceration, such as one Issah Seidu, who was arrested in February this year for failing to
“Tongues have also been wagging that Issah Seidu had to suffer incarceration for long periods because his friends and relations at home and abroad could not raise considerations to meet demands from some staff of the OSP. Tongues are further wagging that there are completed investigation dockets in the OSP which are not moving forward because senior officials of the OSP, including its head, are either relatives or friends or former professional representatives of the suspects or have received considerations from the suspects,” he said.
Amidu said that he raised these issues because of the invitation thrown to the public by Agyebeng to support the OSP in its work. He said that he wanted the OSP to be transparent and accountable and to address the issues raised at a media briefing. He said that he wanted to protect the integrity and independence of the OSP from becoming a rogue institution.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has exposed his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, for his alleged corruption and nepotism in a 15-page statement. Amidu, who resigned from his position in November 2020, accused Agyebeng of using his office to enrich himself and his friends, and of compromising the integrity and independence of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Amidu claims to have received information and intelligence from informants and the media that Agyebeng and his associates were demanding and receiving bribes from suspects under investigation by the OSP. He said that some of the suspects were either relatives or friends or former clients of Agyebeng or his staff, and that some of the cases were suppressed or delayed because of these connections.
“I do not know whether the Special Prosecutor knows that tongues have been wagging from informants and intelligence, and in the media that a friend of the Special Prosecutor from the mountains usually demands and receives considerations allegedly for the benefit of the OSP during the preliminary investigation and full investigations of case to tamper with the resultant threats to continue with the case and to prosecute the suspects in court. Tongues have also been wagging that Issah Seidu had to suffer incarceration for long periods because his friends and relations at home and abroad could not raise considerations to meet demands from some staff of the OSP. Tongues are further wagging that there are completed investigation dockets in the OSP which are not moving forward because senior officials of the OSP, including its head, are either relatives or friends or former professional representatives of the suspects or have received considerations from the suspects,” he said.
Amidu also questioned the procurement of over 50 vehicles and cars by the OSP, some of which were allegedly involved in an accident on the Tema Motorway. He said that the OSP did not have an operational procurement entity at the time and that the public did not hear or see any donation or grant from any source for these vehicles. He said that this raised suspicions of violations of the procurement law and the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) approval.
“I got to know that in 2022 the OSP took possession of over fifty operational vehicles and cars some with bullet proof fortifications from the Tema port which were hidden under the basement of the OSP. The OSP did not have an operational procurement entity at the time to enable the OSP to procure them from its moneys approved by Parliament; internally generated funds, and grants approved by the Minister responsible for Finance in consultation with the Attorney-General. My information is that two of the vehicles driven from the Tema Port in convey got involved in an accident on the Tema Motorway in which one of the vehicles became a complete write-off. The public has not heard or seen the President, Attorney-General or any entity presenting these over fifty vehicles as gifts to the OSP as is the usual practice with donations in the form of grants. A media briefing by the OSP will assuage public suspicions of violations of the procurement law in their procurement,” he said.
He also alleged that Agyebeng procured a fleet of vehicles, including pickups, from a car rental company belonging to his friend or associated with his friend, who is also an employee of the OSP, without going through a competitive bidding process and the PPA approval. He said that Agyebeng also rented or purchased a Prado four wheel drive for the Chief Accountant of the OSP, who is a signatory to the OSP accounts, without the same favour for other heads of departments.
“Still on procurement! Can the Special Prosecutor explain at a media briefing one of his first acts on his assumption of office – how he came to procure a fleet of vehicles including pickups from a car rental company allegedly belonging to his friend or associated with his friend who is alleged to be one of his employees now which he used as back-up for his security details without going through a competitive car rental company bidding process and the approval of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA)? What consideration informed the alleged immediate procurement by renting or purchasing a Prado four wheel drive without PPA approval for the Chief Accountant of the OSP who is a signatory to the OSP accounts only weeks after assuming office when other heads of departments went without the same favour? Remember that the OSP investigates and prosecutes procurement malpractices and the OSP’s press conference will instil confidence in the investigatory work of the OSP when the OSP investigates persons suspected of the commission of similar procurement offences,” he said.
Amidu also accused Agyebeng of travelling abroad frequently on the public purse without any written information to his deputy or the public. He said that Agyebeng even travelled with orderlies who had no security functions to perform on such trips, and that some of his friends accompanied him on some of these trips at their own expense.
“The Special Prosecutor should be addressing a press conferences on whether it is true that since his assumption of office he has spent more than a third of the year in 2021, 2022, and 2023 traveling abroad on the public purse without any written information to his deputy on his travelling abroad. Is it true that the Special Prosecutor even travels with orderlies who have no security functions to perform on such trips abroad?. Is it also true that certain friends of the Special Prosecutor accompany him on some of these trips at their own expense which can be detected from entries from the Ghana Immigration Service data base? By the way, the public wishes to know how many times the Special Prosecutor has traveled abroad on official duties since 9 August 2021, and if accompanied by whom; and whether the DSP was formally informed about these travels abroad. It may well be that when the Special Prosecutor becomes more transparent and accountable and addresses the issues raised at a media briefing, the suspicions of members of the public who may be tarnishing the integrity of the OSP may be put to rest. I raise them here because of the invitation thrown to the public by the Special Prosecutor and the fact that the policy of the OSP to be transparent with the public is a two way street of openness and accountability,” he said.
Amidu said that he raised these issues because of the invitation thrown to the public by Agyebeng to support the OSP in its work. He said that he wanted the OSP to be transparent and accountable and to address the issues raised at the media briefing. He said that he wanted to protect the integrity and independence of the OSP from becoming a rogue institution.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has called for the impeachment of the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, following the latter’s recent press conference on November 29, 2023.
Amidu, in a 15-page statement sighted by The Independent Ghana, accuses Agyebeng of crossing constitutional boundaries and defying Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The statement, titled “Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, Has Crossed the Redline by Scandalizing the Administration of Justice and Must Be Impeached: By Martin A. B. Amidu,” points out that Agyebeng’s press conference aimed to incite the media and the public against the judicial branch, undermining the foundation of the constitution.
Amidu asserts, “The press conference called by the Special Prosecutor… crossed the red line of freedom of speech and expression to subvert the letter and spirit of the foundation of the 1992 Constitution.” He further accuses Agyebeng of abusing and scandalizing the court, violating the constitution, and failing in the duty to protect the independence, dignity, and effectiveness of the courts.
Amidu argues that Agyebeng, as a public officer, violated Article 127 of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees the independence of the judiciary. He highlights that Agyebeng’s conduct is inconsistent with the constitutional duty to protect the judiciary.
The statement contends that Agyebeng intentionally brought undue pressure on judges, violating the constitution and tarnishing the judiciary’s reputation. Amidu compares Agyebeng’s actions to what would warrant disciplinary proceedings for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Amidu concludes by urging patriotic citizens to invoke Section 15(3) of Act 959 for Agyebeng’s removal, stating, “There is no way Ghana is going to survive should Kissi Agyebeng succeed in using public funds and resources to incite the public to bring the image and integrity of the judiciary down.”
In response to Agyebeng’s concerns about the courts’ actions impacting Ghana’s fight against corruption, Amidu dismisses them as an attempt to instigate the public and media against the judiciary. He labels Agyebeng’s appointment by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as one of the president’s worst appointments.
Kissi Agyebeng’s press conference on November 29, 2023, addressed ongoing investigations, challenges faced by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), and setbacks in court.
Agyebeng emphasized the court’s role in interpreting laws, criticized its interference with OSP investigations, and highlighted efforts to enhance the office’s capacity and efficiency.
He called for public support and emphasized the OSP’s commitment to combating corruption.
You can read the full text of Amidu and Agyebeng’s statement below
In a recent statement, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu, has leveled accusations against President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, alleging an attempt to politicize the Airbus Scandal in anticipation of the 2024 general elections.
Amidu contends that the president is actively undermining the primary opponent of his favored successor within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the upcoming 2024 presidential elections.
Furthermore, Amidu asserts, as per a statement seen by GhanaWeb, that Akufo-Addo is utilizing all available state machinery, including pressuring the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), to resurrect the Airbus Scandal for political purposes.
“The Republic of Ghana under the 1992 Constitution on 7 January 2017 became the patrimony of Our Saviour, His Excellency Highness President Big Brother (B.B.) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to manipulate and dispense with regarding what the electorate must believe and disbelieve as ordained by him, and his family and friends’ Government.
“The 2024 elections must bend to the dictates and wishes of Big Brother in the use of orchestrated political truth deployed by all levers of state power under his control to discredit his opponents to ensure his self-perpetuation in the surrogacy of a successor at the 7 December 2024 election and on 7 January 2025,” he wrote.
Amidu, the recently appointed special prosecutor, claimed that he realized the Airbus Scandal was being politicized when he received a call from a high-ranking government official and a prominent NPP figure inquiring about specifics of his investigation during his tenure, including the involvement of the brother of former President John Dramani Mahama.
He continued by recounting the following events that took place during the phone call:
“My suspicions about the in tandem orchestration and politicization of the Airbus SE-Ghana investigation were first confirmed on 13 August 2023 at 19:21 Hours when I received a 2 missed call from an unlikely source and returned the call at 19:41 Hours only to hear my interlocutor say from the other end that: “Uncle it is me…..”. My interlocutor wanted to find out from me whether I could confirm that Samuel Mahama, the younger brother of former President John Mahama, and other suspects for whom I had caused an INTERPOL arrest warrant to issue when I was the Special Prosecutor, had been arrested in the United Kingdom for extradition to Ghana.
“My interlocutor turned out to be a public officer in the Government paid from public funds appropriated by parliament who in his official capacity has nothing to do with law enforcement in Ghana. Incidentally, he also holds an influential position in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“I answered in the negative and reminded my interlocutor that I ceased to have anything to do with the Airbus SE-Ghana investigation upon my resignation from the OSP. I, therefore, had no interest whatsoever in following what was happening in that investigation. I also reminded the interlocutor that I had left the OSP in the care of my deputy as the acting Special Prosecutor for eleven months before a substantive Special Prosecutor was appointed on 5 August 2021. I asked the interlocutor to contact Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor to confirm whether or not the allegations he sought to confirm from me were true. We spoke on the phone for 5 minutes 35 seconds at my expense.”
About Airbus scandal:
Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, faced allegations of bribery in Ghana during the sale of three military aircraft. The aerospace multinational admitted to engaging the brother of a prominent elected Ghanaian official as a consultant for the aircraft sales pitch.
Furthermore, Airbus acknowledged that it paid the mentioned consultant through a third party, a move prompted by concerns raised by its Compliance Unit regarding the close association between the consultant and the influential elected official.
This official played a pivotal role in the decision-making process for the military aircraft purchase.
Former President John Dramani Mahama was implicated in the scandal, with the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, suggesting that the label “Government Official One” in the scandal referred to the ex-president.
Amidu, during his tenure as Special Prosecutor, disclosed details of how John Mahama allegedly utilized his position to facilitate a Ghanaian passport for his brother, Samuel Adam Mahama.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has raised concerns about the apparent delay in completing the ‘NLA/TekStart Africa Limited Procurement Malpractice and Abuse of Public Office for Private Profit’ investigation that he initiated.
Amidu asserts that the investigation, which implicates the CEO of the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) and other NLA officials, was nearly concluded during his tenure.
However, his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, has yet to take any action on the matter or include it in the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s half-year report.
In a statement shared with GhanaWeb, Amidu disclosed that all the witnesses and suspects involved in the scandal, where government officials at the NLA, including the CEO, are accused of exploiting their positions for personal gain in a deal exceeding US$25 million, had been interviewed.
“Kissi Agyebeng needs to explain the reasons for consistently not listing as part of his half yearly report the almost completed investigation of the suspected 2018 procurement contract giving rise to procurement malpractices and abuse of public office for private profit involving the NLA, and the alleged Chinese entity of Messrs. Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited to supply 30,000 units of NEXGO N5 Smart Point of Sales Terminals (POSTs) for an approved Contract sum by the Board of Twenty-Five Million, Twenty-Three Thousand US Dollars (USD25,023,000.00) which was allegedly represented in Ghana by its agent, Tekstart Africa Limited.
“Witnesses and suspects had been interrogated with witness statements, and suspect statements on caution taken from them, as the case may be. The relevant documentary materials had been obtained through requests for information and production of documents and filed on the case docket. The progress of the investigation is verifiable from the station diary of the OSP, and diary of action in the investigation docket,” he wrote.
He added, “The investigation was left with the interrogation of the three (3) prime suspects, Mr Derek Appiah, the Managing Director of TekStart Africa Limited, one Venesa Marfo associated with TekStart Africa Ltd, and finally the CEO of NLA to be completed and a decision made whether to prosecute or not”.
The evidence, according to Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, before he left office indicated that over GH¢20 million had been transferred from the NLA to TeskStart despite the lack of a formal agreement.
“The evolving investigation made it necessary to investigate the financial affairs of TekStart Africa Limited, a Ghanaian company reasonably suspected of collaboration with public officers in the NLA to use their public offices for private profit. The investigation evidence evolved showing the transfer of a sum of GH₵20,413,864.37 on 18 December 2018 from the NLA account at United Bank for Africa to TekStart Africa Limited’s account at the same bank. It transpired that there was no agency agreement or relationship whatsoever between Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited and Tekstart Africa Limited. The evolving investigation also pointed to the irresistible fact that Tekstart Africa Limited was ordering the subject matter of the procurement contract directly from suppliers in Hong Kong and supplying them to the NLA and taking suspicious levels of fees for clearance and transportation from the Port of Tema to the NLA as though it was the agent of Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited.”
Amidu continued, claiming that Kissi Agyebeng represented Derek Appiah, the managing director of Tekstart Africa Limited, and implying that it was he—the current special prosecutor—who employed every tactic possible to keep the director from being questioned.
He restated that the special prosecutor needs to give Ghanaians an explanation for the case’s impasse.
Read Marting Amidu’s full statement on the NLA/TekStart Africa Limited Procurement Malpractice and Abuse of Public Office for Private Profit investigation below:
THE NLA/ TEKSTART AFRICA LIMITED PROCUREMENT MALPRACTICES AND ABUSE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE PROFIT
Kissi Agyebeng needs to explain the reasons for consistently not listing as part of his half yearly report the almost completed investigation of the suspected 2018 procurement contract giving rise to procurement malpractices and abuse of public office for private profit involving the NLA, and the alleged Chinese entity of Messrs. Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited to supply 30,000 units of NEXGO N5 Smart Point of Sales Terminals (POSTs) for an approved Contract sum by the Board of Twenty-Five Million, Twenty-Three Thousand US Dollars (USD25,023,000.00) which was allegedly represented in Ghana by its agent, Tekstart Africa Limited. Witnesses and suspects had been interrogated with witness statements, and suspect statements on caution taken from them, as the case may be. The relevant documentary materials had been obtained through requests for information and production of documents and filed on the case docket. The progress of the investigation is verifiable from the station diary of the OSP, and diary of action in the investigation docket.
The evolving investigation made it necessary to investigate the financial affairs of TekStart Africa Limited, a Ghanaian company reasonably suspected of collaboration with public officers in the NLA to use their public offices for private profit. The investigation evidence evolved showing the transfer of a sum of GH₵20,413,864.37 on 18 December 2018 from the NLA account at United Bank for Africa to TekStart Africa Limited’s account at the same bank. It transpired that there was no agency agreement or relationship whatsoever between Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited and Tekstart Africa Limited. The evolving investigation also pointed to the irresistible fact that Tekstart Africa Limited was ordering the subject matter of the procurement contract directly from suppliers in Hong Kong and supplying them to the NLA and taking suspicious levels of fees for clearance and transportation from the Port of Tema to the NLA as though it was the agent of Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited.
The investigation was left with the interrogation of the three (3) prime suspects, Mr. Derek Appiah, the Managing Director of Tekstart Africa Limited, one Venesa Marfo associated with Tekstart Africa Ltd, and finally the CEO of NLA to be completed and a decision made whether to prosecute or not. Kissi Agyebeng wrote letters to the OSP as the lawyer for Mr. Derek Appiah, the Managing Director of Tekstart Africa Limited. Kissi Agyebeng’s client, Mr. Derek Appiah, from June to August 2020 consistently used subterfuges and excuses to avoid being interrogated. On the only or so occasion he came to the OSP he was accompanied by junior lawyers who indicated that Kissi Agyebeng insisted he wanted to be present in person for the interrogation of Mr. Derek Appiah to take place. Kiss Agyebeng confirmed this in writing to the OSP. The fact of his writing was recorded in the Letters Received Register of the OSP, the Station Diary, and also in the Diary of Action on the investigation docket.
In the course of the investigations the link between the NLA, Tekstart Africa Limited, and one Venesa Marfo emerged from my personal UK sources. This led the OSP to the discovery of a Sales Notice for the sale of Plot No. 5205 The Madison, 199-207, Marsh Wall, London, E24 9YT at an agreed price of £1,600,000 (One Million and Six Hundred Thousand Pounds Only) with the purchasers as Kofi Osei-Ameyaw/Venesa Marfo with addresses at 9 Sunflower Lane, Teshie Nunguah with telephone number 233-244-56-3894 and Hse. No. 8 7 th Road Tesano with telephone number 233-246-83-2924 respectively. The vendor of the property was listed as: LBS Properties Limited of the UK. The purchaser’s solicitor was one Samuel Tetteh Quaye in the UK. The transaction from the investigations later fell through but the findings were relevant for the OSP’s investigations of the abuse of public office for private profit at the NLA. The investigations further disclosed that coincidentally, one Venessa Marfo had been involved in several procurement transactions at the NLA including the NLA/Tekstart Africa Limited NEXGO transactions.
The people of Ghana, therefore, deserve an explanation for the reasons for which Kissi Agyebeng decided not to list the NLA/Tekstart Africa/ Venesa Marfo reasonably suspected corruption cases as part of his half-yearly report under Section 3 (3) of Act 959 since he has chosen to list all major pending cases which are not required to be listed for public consumption to give the false appearance that the persons involved must already be liable for corruption offences under Act 959.
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has raised questions about his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, for not completing the investigation into the ‘NLA/TekStart Africa Limited Procurement Malpractice and Abuse of Public Office for Private Profit,’ which he initiated.
According to Amidu, the investigation, which implicated the CEO of the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) and other officials at the authority, was nearly finished before he left office.
However, Agyebeng has taken no action on it and did not include it in the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s half-year report. Amidu explained that all the witnesses and suspects involved in the scandal, where government officials at the NLA, including a CEO, are accused of using their positions for private profit in a deal worth over US$25 million, had been interrogated.
“Kissi Agyebeng needs to explain the reasons for consistently not listing as part of his half yearly report the almost completed investigation of the suspected 2018 procurement contract giving rise to procurement malpractices and abuse of public office for private profit involving the NLA, and the alleged Chinese entity of Messrs. Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited to supply 30,000 units of NEXGO N5 Smart Point of Sales Terminals (POSTs) for an approved Contract sum by the Board of Twenty-Five Million, Twenty-Three Thousand US Dollars (USD25,023,000.00) which was allegedly represented in Ghana by its agent, Tekstart Africa Limited.
“Witnesses and suspects had been interrogated with witness statements, and suspect statements on caution taken from them, as the case may be. The relevant documentary materials had been obtained through requests for information and production of documents and filed on the case docket. The progress of the investigation is verifiable from the station diary of the OSP, and diary of action in the investigation docket,” he wrote.
He added, “The investigation was left with the interrogation of the three (3) prime suspects, Mr Derek Appiah, the Managing Director of TekStart Africa Limited, one Venesa Marfo associated with TekStart Africa Ltd, and finally the CEO of NLA to be completed and a decision made whether to prosecute or not”.
Before leaving office, Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, pointed out that the evidence indicated that over GH¢20 million was transferred from the NLA to TeskStart, even though no formal agreement was in place.
“The evolving investigation made it necessary to investigate the financial affairs of TekStart Africa Limited, a Ghanaian company reasonably suspected of collaboration with public officers in the NLA to use their public offices for private profit. The investigation evidence evolved showing the transfer of a sum of GH₵20,413,864.37 on 18 December 2018 from the NLA account at United Bank for Africa to TekStart Africa Limited’s account at the same bank. It transpired that there was no agency agreement or relationship whatsoever between Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited and Tekstart Africa Limited. The evolving investigation also pointed to the irresistible fact that Tekstart Africa Limited was ordering the subject matter of the procurement contract directly from suppliers in Hong Kong and supplying them to the NLA and taking suspicious levels of fees for clearance and transportation from the Port of Tema to the NLA as though it was the agent of Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited.”
Amidu went on to state that Kissi Agyebeng was the lawyer of the Managing Director of Tekstart Africa Limited, Derek Appiah; suggesting that he (the current special prosecutor) was the one who used all kinds of means to prevent the interrogation of the director.
He reiterated that the special prosecutor must explain to Ghanaians why the case has stalled.
Read Marting Amidu’s full statement on the NLA/TekStart Africa Limited Procurement Malpractice and Abuse of Public Office for Private Profit investigation below:
THE NLA/ TEKSTART AFRICA LIMITED PROCUREMENT MALPRACTICES AND ABUSE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE PROFIT
Kissi Agyebeng needs to explain the reasons for consistently not listing as part of his half yearly report the almost completed investigation of the suspected 2018 procurement contract giving rise to procurement malpractices and abuse of public office for private profit involving the NLA, and the alleged Chinese entity of Messrs. Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited to supply 30,000 units of NEXGO N5 Smart Point of Sales Terminals (POSTs) for an approved Contract sum by the Board of Twenty-Five Million, Twenty-Three Thousand US Dollars (USD25,023,000.00) which was allegedly represented in Ghana by its agent, Tekstart Africa Limited. Witnesses and suspects had been interrogated with witness statements, and suspect statements on caution taken from them, as the case may be. The relevant documentary materials had been obtained through requests for information and production of documents and filed on the case docket. The progress of the investigation is verifiable from the station diary of the OSP, and diary of action in the investigation docket.
The evolving investigation made it necessary to investigate the financial affairs of TekStart Africa Limited, a Ghanaian company reasonably suspected of collaboration with public officers in the NLA to use their public offices for private profit. The investigation evidence evolved showing the transfer of a sum of GH₵20,413,864.37 on 18 December 2018 from the NLA account at United Bank for Africa to TekStart Africa Limited’s account at the same bank. It transpired that there was no agency agreement or relationship whatsoever between Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited and Tekstart Africa Limited. The evolving investigation also pointed to the irresistible fact that Tekstart Africa Limited was ordering the subject matter of the procurement contract directly from suppliers in Hong Kong and supplying them to the NLA and taking suspicious levels of fees for clearance and transportation from the Port of Tema to the NLA as though it was the agent of Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Limited.
The investigation was left with the interrogation of the three (3) prime suspects, Mr. Derek Appiah, the Managing Director of Tekstart Africa Limited, one Venesa Marfo associated with Tekstart Africa Ltd, and finally the CEO of NLA to be completed and a decision made whether to prosecute or not. Kissi Agyebeng wrote letters to the OSP as the lawyer for Mr. Derek Appiah, the Managing Director of Tekstart Africa Limited. Kissi Agyebeng’s client, Mr. Derek Appiah, from June to August 2020 consistently used subterfuges and excuses to avoid being interrogated. On the only or so occasion he came to the OSP he was accompanied by junior lawyers who indicated that Kissi Agyebeng insisted he wanted to be present in person for the interrogation of Mr. Derek Appiah to take place. Kiss Agyebeng confirmed this in writing to the OSP. The fact of his writing was recorded in the Letters Received Register of the OSP, the Station Diary, and also in the Diary of Action on the investigation docket.
In the course of the investigations the link between the NLA, Tekstart Africa Limited, and one Venesa Marfo emerged from my personal UK sources. This led the OSP to the discovery of a Sales Notice for the sale of Plot No. 5205 The Madison, 199-207, Marsh Wall, London, E24 9YT at an agreed price of £1,600,000 (One Million and Six Hundred Thousand Pounds Only) with the purchasers as Kofi Osei-Ameyaw/Venesa Marfo with addresses at 9 Sunflower Lane, Teshie Nunguah with telephone number 233-244-56-3894 and Hse. No. 8 7 th Road Tesano with telephone number 233-246-83-2924 respectively. The vendor of the property was listed as: LBS Properties Limited of the UK. The purchaser’s solicitor was one Samuel Tetteh Quaye in the UK. The transaction from the investigations later fell through but the findings were relevant for the OSP’s investigations of the abuse of public office for private profit at the NLA. The investigations further disclosed that coincidentally, one Venessa Marfo had been involved in several procurement transactions at the NLA including the NLA/Tekstart Africa Limited NEXGO transactions.
The people of Ghana, therefore, deserve an explanation for the reasons for which Kissi Agyebeng decided not to list the NLA/Tekstart Africa/ Venesa Marfo reasonably suspected corruption cases as part of his half-yearly report under Section 3 (3) of Act 959 since he has chosen to list all major pending cases which are not required to be listed for public consumption to give the false appearance that the persons involved must already be liable for corruption offences under Act 959.
Former Ghana Special Prosecutor Martin, known for his relentless pursuit of corruption, has set off a firestorm of controversy with his recent statement claiming that the Airbus Scandal investigation was mere “child’s play” when compared to the sprawling Agyapa Royalties Transactions case. In a detailed article, Martin highlighted the stark differences between these two high-profile corruption investigations, raising serious concerns about the scale of alleged wrongdoing.
Airbus Scandal: A Complex Investigation
In his article, Martin recalled the challenges faced during the Airbus Scandal investigation, which revolved around alleged bribery by Airbus SE, a European aerospace corporation, in the sale and purchase of military aircraft for Ghana. He discussed difficulties accessing vital information and the absence of cooperation from government entities involved in the case. The former Special Prosecutor revealed that Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) requests to the United Kingdom and the United States had been made but remained unanswered when he left office in November 2020.
Agyapa Royalties Transactions: A Grave Concern
The former Special Prosecutor went on to underscore the significance of the Agyapa Royalties Transactions. He characterized it as a much more extensive case, highlighting concerns of corruption and abuse of public office for private gain. Martin alleged that this case far surpassed the Airbus Scandal in terms of severity and scale.
Allegations of Inaction
Martin raised questions about the actions of the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, in connection to the Agyapa Royalties Transactions. He insinuated that political pressures may be influencing the decision not to pursue a formal investigation into the matter. Despite promising to investigate the Agyapa Royalties Transactions before Parliament, Martin alleged that the current Special Prosecutor has failed to fulfill his oath.
Resurgence of Airbus Scandal Investigation
Of particular concern is the sudden revival of the Airbus Scandal investigation, which had remained relatively dormant for several years. Martin suggested that political motivations might be driving the decision to revisit this case, especially with the 2024 elections looming.
Concluding Remarks and Implications
Martin’s provocative statements have ignited a new round of discussions on corruption investigations in Ghana and the country’s commitment to upholding transparency and accountability. The stark contrast he drew between the Airbus Scandal and the Agyapa Royalties Transactions is expected to intensify public scrutiny of these high-stakes issues.
As the political landscape in Ghana continues to evolve, these allegations and comparisons are likely to play a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and influencing ongoing investigations, potentially impacting the nation’s future political landscape and its efforts to combat corruption.
A prominent member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy, has sided with former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu’s description of President Akufo-Addo as the “mother serpent of corruption.”
The US-based medical practitioner believes that the president has shown no dedication to the anti-corruption cause. According to him, the president’s posture and actions towards sensitive issues prove him right.
“The problem is not forming new institutions; it is in our hearts. The president’s body language, his temperament and attitude is not geared towards fighting corruption, and Martin Amidu was right that he is the mother serpent of corruption…” he told JoyNews during an interview.
He added: “It is a very fair assessment, look at who he appointed as head of the Public Procurement Authority, the person he appointed as head of Public Procurement Authority to begin with had ethical challenges under the Kufuor administration, so, it is not like people didn’t know who he was.
“But he got the job anyway. Then the president along the line of course is talking about it, he says that this time around we even have a Minister for Public Procurement.
“Not only that, we have a board of directors for the Public Procurement Authority. In spite of that, the head of Public Procurement Authority forms a private company on the side, that bids for contracts and gets them and sells them on the side, and he did that for years under the very noses of his board of directors and the minister who was supposed to take care of procurement.
“And all what it took was Manasseh Azure, one journalist, to expose them. So where was the security agencies? Where was the police? Where was the Attorney General’s Department? Where was anybody?” he questioned.
In a 27-page response to the allegations made by the presidency after his resignation as Special Prosecutor in 2020, Martin Amidu accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of being deeply involved in corruption.
Despite initially having trust in the president’s integrity and anti-corruption stance, Amidu claimed that Akufo-Addo’s actions revealed him as a leader who obstructed his efforts to fulfill his duties.
“I resigned my position as the Special Prosecutor because of the traumatic experience I suffered from the reaction of the President who breached his Presidential oath by unlawfully obstructing me from taking any further steps on the Agyapa Royalties Transactions from 20th October 2020 to 1 November 2020.”
“When I met the President on 23rd October 2020, I received the shock of my life when he demanded that I took no further action on the Agyapa royalties transaction anti-corruption assessment report for another week.
“That was when it was divinely revealed to me that the President whom I trusted so much for integrity only looked like the innocent flower of anti-corruption but he was really the mother corruption serpent under the innocent-looking flower,” Martin Amidu wrote of the president.
But President Akufo-Addo has, on several occasions, refuted claims that he does not seek to fight corruption. He clarified that it is not his duty to investigate or sanction individuals accused of corruption, but that of the law enforcement agencies.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has criticized his former office for its handling of the unfreezing of five bank accounts associated with former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecelia Dapaah.
He has accused the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of misleading the public in its handling of the investigation into the source of the former sanitation minister’s wealth.
Amidu, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, expressed his perplexity over the OSP’s decision to unfreeze certain bank accounts belonging to Cecilia Dapaah and publicly announce this action. In his view, the appropriate approach should have been for the OSP to disclose the reasons for revoking the freezing order rather than simply making an announcement.
“Kissi Agyebeng is running away with his tail between his legs from the adversarial process of the High Court even in matters which are subjudice. The proper forum for a competent and an experienced Special Prosecutor to state why the five (5) bank accounts should be de-frozen when the matter is already in court, is before the High Court and not in the media to con the unsuspecting public,” he stated.
Martin Amidu urged that Cecilia Dapaah’s attorneys discuss what he believes to be the Special Prosecutor’s abuse of the legal system in an open court.
“Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s lawyers should pursue the abuse of the process of the court entailed in the Special Prosecutor’s conduct to hold him accountable in open court after the petition has been dealt with by the Chief Justice’s directives and the substantive case filed on September, 11, 2023, comes on for hearing,” he stated.
Martin Amidu added “the issue of whether the frozen bank accounts should or should not be de-frozen has also become subjudice before the High Court. The proper procedure for the Special Prosecutor to have followed to have the five (5) bank accounts de-frozen at this stage of the proceedings was to apply to the court to order the de-freezing of those five (5) bank accounts and to order the hearing on the remaining bank accounts to continue.”
The former Special Prosecutor further warned the OSP against carrying on his anti-corruption business as Tiger Eye PI’s legal counsel while working at the office.
Background
Cecilia Dapaah is currently facing an OSP investigation for alleged corruption and related offenses, stemming from thefts exceeding $1 million, €300,000 in cash, and valuable items by two of her house helps at her residence in Abelemkpe.
The OSP, after an initial freeze order, once again froze the accounts of the embattled former minister on September 5, 2023, following a court directive to unfreeze her accounts and investments and return her seized funds.
GhanaWeb reported on August 9, 2023, that the assets and bank accounts of former Minister Cecilia Dapaah, containing significant sums in both dollars and cedis, had been frozen by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
On October 16, 2023, the OSP lifted the freeze order on five of Cecilia Dapaah’s bank accounts. However, the freezing order remains in effect for her other bank accounts and financial assets.
In a recent statement, former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has accused his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, of violating the constitutional rights of the former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah.
Amidu expressed his concern over the public announcement of the arrest and subsequent search of the former Minister’s residence, stating that it eroded her presumption of innocence and fueled perceptions of guilt without proper investigation into specified corruption charges.
Amidu highlighted that law enforcement should not be influenced by public hysteria and emotions before establishing prima facie evidence through a thorough investigation.
“Populism has no place in law enforcement. Law enforcement is a serious and impartial business as it deals with upholding the constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens suspected of the commission of crime during investigation.
“Firstly, it is unethical to deploy law enforcement in aid of public hysteria and emotions before the establishment of prima facie evidence pursuant to an investigation.
“Secondly, there is no offence known under Section 79 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) as corruption and corruption-related offences,” he stressed.
He further emphasized that the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act does not recognize any offence named “corruption and corruption-related offences” under Section 79.
“The integrity of the OSP is clearly at stake if the presumption of innocence guaranteed the citizen is to be protected,“ he added.
The controversy arose from a press release issued by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, stating that the former Minister, Cecilia Dapaah, had been arrested in connection with corruption and corruption-related offences.
Martin Amidu criticized this move as populist and unethical, asserting that it contributed to the public perception of the Minister’s unexplained wealth.
Amidu advised Madam Cecilia Dapaah’s legal team to closely examine and challenge the authority of the Special Prosecutor to conduct arrests, interrogations, and searches of residences.
He also called on the Ghana Police Service to investigate the alleged leakage of information from the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which could be a breach of confidentiality under Section 74 of Act 959.
“The Ghana Police Service should as a matter of urgency and fairness investigate the sources of the alleged leakages as mandated by Section 74 of Act 959 as the Special Prosecutor will have to be the subject of this investigation himself to establish which authorized officers committed the offences. The Police cybersecurity department is capable of tracing the sources of the video and other publications on social media.
“It is important that the OSP, which I had the distinguished honour to establish and operationalise, does not leak like a sieve during investigations – whether lawful or unlawful investigations. It was for these reasons that I questioned the unconstitutional appointments of known politically partisan friends of the Special Prosecutor to the OSP these unconstitutional appointments have not been redressed by the Government that is now reaping the distasteful results.
The case in question involves two house helps of Cecilia Dapaah and her husband facing charges for allegedly stealing money and valuable items worth millions of cedis from their residence.
Additional individuals, including boyfriends and the father of one of the accused, are also facing charges for dishonestly receiving stolen property.
The situation has drawn significant attention and debate, prompting Martin Amidu to emphasize the importance of upholding the presumption of innocence and protecting citizens’ fundamental rights during investigations.
Martin A. B. K. Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor, has made a bold claim regarding a leaked tape. According to Amidu, the tape, which discussed persuading the President to terminate the appointment of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on grounds of disloyalty to the government, was staged.
He suggests that this was a deliberate ploy to divert the attention of opposition political parties, especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and potentially make them hesitant to complain if the Ghana Police Service fails to ensure fair and impartial security during the 2024 elections.
Amidu asserts that he knows for a fact that Dr. George Akuffo Dampare was handpicked for the role of IGP based on his proven loyalty to the current government. He reveals that discussions for the replacement of Dampare’s predecessor began well in advance of the latter’s departure from office. Amidu discloses that he was privy to discussions held by three key individuals who were part of the Police Council, and they were his friends. As the succession plans gained momentum, the President’s support and agreement were sought and obtained.
“The leakage of the tape recording has achieved its objective because the NDC in particular, other opposition political parties, and security and intelligence operatives have diverted their attention to defending and extolling the virtues and perceived neutrality of the IGP. IGPs do not win elections and can scarcely influence the polls. What an IGP can and might do is to position Regional, Divisional, District, and Station Commanders who will control his men at the polls and relax their security alertness and surveillance on election day. Even such a move in a national election is not without hazards for the IGP as some Commanders may give him out to the other side. The Assin North constituency by-election cannot be used as a yardstick for measuring the neutrality of the Ghana Police Service in the coming national elections in 2024.”
Furthermore, Amidu states that he is aware that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who chairs the Police Council and presided over the council meeting that officially recommended Dr. Dampare’s appointment to the President, was a staunch supporter of Dampare long before the position of IGP became vacant.
Amidu’s claims shed light on the behind-the-scenes maneuvers and discussions that took place prior to Dr. Dampare assuming the role of IGP. It appears that his appointment was not a sudden decision but rather the result of a carefully orchestrated process involving influential figures within the government.
These revelations raise questions about the transparency and fairness of the selection process for high-ranking positions within the Ghana Police Service. The alleged premeditated appointment of Dr. Dampare based on loyalty rather than merit may undermine public trust and confidence in the institution.
Amidu’s assertions also draw attention to the potential manipulation of political narratives and the use of diversionary tactics. If the leaked tape was indeed staged, it suggests a calculated effort to divert attention away from pressing issues and shift the focus onto internal political strife. This tactic could serve to undermine the credibility of opposition parties and limit their ability to raise legitimate concerns regarding election security.
As Ghana approaches the 2024 elections, it is crucial for all stakeholders, including the government, opposition parties, and the general public, to maintain vigilance and demand transparency, fairness, and impartiality in the conduct of electoral processes and security arrangements. The revelations brought forward by Amidu should serve as a call for a thorough examination of the appointment processes for key positions and a reminder of the importance of safeguarding the integrity of democratic institutions.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has said that his successor, Kissi Agyebeng lacks understanding with regards to the duties and responsibilities of his office.
According to him, the “OSP was not established as a corporate fisheries entity to go into the oceans, rivers, and other water bodies of crime, casting its net widely to scoop in every fish the net can catch, and then decide which type of fish meets its fancy to be retained as game or food for sacrifice to the gods of persecution and which to release back into the oceans.”
His comment follows the arrest and subsequent bailing of former Environment Minister, Fimpong-Boateng.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng was invited by the OSP on May 16 as “a person necessary for the investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-ministerial Committee on illegal mining, IMCIM.”
Although this action by Mr. Agyebeng has been widely criticised especially by the minority NDC, the former has defended the arrest, insisting that the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof Frimpong-Boateng is not the only person being investigated and neither is he the only government appointee who has been invited.
He argued that he has a charge to keep.
“I respect the credentials of the Professor, and I doff my hat to him. You know me very personally, I am an academician as well, and so I respect such people on all scores. I mean the CV is unbelievable, I respect that, and I applaud him for that, but I have a charge to keep. The charge I have to keep is to the Republic of Ghana and to the public. I have been put in this office to investigate corruption and corruption-related offences, to recover assets for the country.”
But rubbishing this defense, the citizen vigilante said, the “deficiencies in the investigatory and prosecutorial experience of Mr. Kissi Agyebeng is what has haunted him into overdrive to think that he can earn the trust of Ghanaians by appearing to talk tough and threatening to investigate and prosecute “everyone and every person” on mere suspicion of the commission of a corruption offence without first establishing reasonable grounds for such suspicion as though he was on a fishing expedition.”
In Mr Amidu’s write-up sighted by JoyNews, he explained that, “the ethics governing professional investigators as well as prosecutors do not permit such specialized public officers to intimidate and frighten citizens with threats of arrest and prosecution for the generic offence of corruption and corruption-related offences created under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) without indicating to a suspect the specified crime(s) committed or about to be committed within the generic corruption offences.
Again, “There is no crime under Act 959 known as “alleged or suspected corruption and corruption[1]related offences”. The mandate of the OSP is to “investigate and prosecute specific cases of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences” (Emphasis supplied). The specific cases of offences the OSP is enjoined to investigate and prosecute are defined under Section 79 of Act 959. Consequently, the citizen is entitled to know from the invitation letter or at the point of arrest the specific offence of alleged or specified suspected corruption and corruption-related offences for which he is reasonably suspected of having violated. The Ghana Police Service which hitherto was responsible for investigating all criminal offences under the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), is not permitted to invite or arrest a citizen for the commission of crime generally without specifying the particular crime or offence for which the citizen is reasonably suspected of commission or about to commit,” Mr. Amidu added.
In the view of the first Special Prosecutor who resigned from the role after a clash with the government, “The fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizen to fair and impartial investigation and prosecution upon reasonable suspicion of the commission of crime are guaranteed under the Constitution and the Special Prosecutor cannot decide at his whim when and how the guaranteed rights may be enjoyed by the citizen on account of the mandate of his office to investigate and prosecute specified cases of alleged or suspected corruption.”
At a recent campaign event in Assin North, former Special Prosecutor, Martin A. B. K. Amidu, criticized President Akufo-Addo of acting autocratically.
Akufo-Addo on June 25, 2023 told party faithful that they should reject the National Democratic Congress’ parliamentary candidate James Gyakye Quayson because he was a potential prisoner even if he won the June 27 primary.
At the end of the vote, Gyakye Quayson, polled 57.56% of the total valid votes cast to be returned Member of Parliament-elect beating New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Charles Opoku, who secured 42.15% of the votes.
Amidu in a June 28 congratulatory message to the NDC and its candidate pointed out that Akufo-Addo had shamefully acted by his pronouncements and had perjured his oath of office.
“Shamefully, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana for the time being, jumped into the affray to undermine the decisions of the Courts and the rule of law by the autocratic statement he delivered at the rally in the Assin North on 25 June 2023.
“The President who has sworn a constitutional oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana” perjured his oath, betrayed the Republic of Ghana, and created the impression that the weaponization of criminal justice administration as an instrument of a partisan political democratic representative contest by his Attorney-General was upon his express instructions.”
He continued: “Now is the time for the Nana Akufo-Addo to do the decent thing in beating a retreat by instructing his Attorney-General to stop the weaponization of criminal justice administration as an instrument of political persecution of opponents of the NPP by obeying the voice of the people and democracy with a nolle prosequi to undo the abuse of the Constitution they set in motion to unconstitutionally aid them at the by-election.
Amidu, who is a staunch advocate for constitutionalism and the rule of law, hailed the NDC’s victory in the by-election to the strength and efficacy of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
He commended the NDC for its success and lauded the individuals who prioritized the national interest, defended the Constitution, and supported democracy and the rule of law.
“The NDC must be congratulated by all patriotic persons who act apolitically in the national interest and believe in the defence of the Constitution and in the sustenance of democracy and the rule of law in Ghana.
“I take the view that Constitutionalism won in the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General failed woefully in weaponizing the administration of criminal justice, while democracy and the rule of law won massively at the Assin North by-elections,” the statement read.
The former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu went on to criticize the actions of the Attorney-General describing him as the loser in the battle between constitutionalism, democracy, and the rule of law.
According to Amidu, the Attorney-General attempted to weaponize the criminal justice administration to undermine both the Supreme Court’s decision and the representative democratic process during the Assin North by-election.
He accused the Attorney-General of acting in a partisan manner and questioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s involvement in undermining the decisions of the courts and the rule of law.
“The loser in this interaction between constitutionalism, democracy, and rule of law is the Attorney-General whose office is guaranteed and entrenched under Chapter 8 in Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution to ensure his independence and impartiality in criminal justice administration as it affects citizens and the State.
“My long association with Court House Governance for almost two decades convinces me that Attorney-General tried weaponizing the instrument of criminal justice administration entrusted to his custody by Article 88 (3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution to undermine first, the decision of the Supreme Court, and secondly, the representative democratic process guaranteed under the Constitution at the Assin North by-election,” he continued.
Martin Amidu praised the people of the Assin North constituency for their refusal to be swayed by the ruling NPP and their commitment to upholding their rights.
“The people of Assin North have proven that the majority of patriotic Ghanaians in the constituency understand their rights and cannot be bought by incumbency largesse. The people of Assin North have also sent a clear signal to all patriots in Ghana that truth must triumph over lies and deception,” he added.
Renowned investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has refuted allegations by some Ghanaians, including former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, that he extorts money from people implicated in his corruption exposés.
Martin Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, described Anas as an ‘anti-corruption entrepreneur’ who makes money out of exposing corruption.
Reacting to this in an interview on DW Africa monitored by GhanaWeb on June 19, 2023, Anas said that he has never engaged in any corrupt activity.
He added that he would not be walking as a free man if any of the allegations against him were true.
“I have dealt with this matter before… Martin Amidu is a senior citizen of Ghana. Me and him have disagreed on this issue publicly, and it is fair. I respect his comment.
“But here I am sitting here, talking to you… Nobody has ever caught me in a bribery scandal. So, like I said, it is fair. He can describe me as he wants.
“Even before Martin Amidu, Atlantic Magazine wrote about me, and they described me as a spy and about 10 other descriptions,” he said.
Anas, however, noted that the criticisms from Martin Amidu are welcomed because they are important in shaping Ghana’s democracy.
“The point is that how does that push the frontiers of our democracy? And I encourage people like Martin, let them stick out their necks, let them talk, let them all make their opinions clear.
“At the end of the day, I know what I’m doing, I am focused on it, and I can tell you, there will be several liberal dossiers of my journalism over a period of time,” he said.
What Martin Amidu said?
The former Special Prosecutor said that Anas lives in the fear of his own shadow as an “anti-corruption entrepreneur” and not a genuine anti-corruption crusader.
In an article on the decision by Justice Eric Baah’s High Court to dismiss a GHS 25 million defamation suit filed by the investigative journalist against Assin Central Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong, Amidu said that Anas may have shot himself in the foot by using a power of attorney to file the suit instead of doing that himself due to his fear of his real identity being exposed.
“The rule against the admissibility of hearsay evidence is statutory. Anas A. Anas, the plaintiff, put himself in a situation of being incapable of giving relevant and primary evidence in person and being cross-examined because he lives in the fear of his own shadow as an anti-corruption entrepreneur and not as a genuine anti-corruption crusader.
“Anas A. Anas thus lost the only opportunity to publicly tell the court his version of the facts within his personal knowledge and to be cross-examined to establish his credibility. Genuine anti-corruption crusaders do not hide their faces behind masks,” he wrote.
“- But in these cases,we still have judgement here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor; this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice
To our own lips….” – Macbeth.
The President of Ghana’s letter with reference number OPS/2G4/23/401 to Al Jazeera, dated 25 April 2023 and purposefully leaked to the media for publication exhibits lack of integrity, seriousness, and consistency in its content within the context of previous undertakings and promises to Ghanaians by the President before and after he assumed office as president. A leader must keep his promises and show exemplary leadership.
Nana Akufo-Addo, while he was courting the Presidency of Ghana, swore belief and fidelity to the “Anas Principle”. The reader can view and listen to his own words on YouTube: Akufo-Addo promised to use Anas Principle to fight corruption. – YouTube. Nana Akufo-Addo had earlier also said while on a campaign tour of the United States of America at a town hall meeting with Ghanaians in Houston, Texas, on Saturday 4 February 2012, inter alia, that:
“My government would institutionalise what I call the Anas principle, to create a new culture of fear for corrupt practices. We must infest the disciples of corruption with paranoia, in that you may never know that the person you are giving the bribe to or receiving it from may be an undercover agent…. I intend to establish a special anti-corruption squad, made up of some of our best young talents, well-trained, well-paid, well-disciplined, with the licence to root out corruption from every nook and cranny of our public life. I know this may be controversial but I am resolute in my conviction to remove the hold that corruption has on our institutions and our development. Serious problems call for serious solutions. I will introduce stiffer punishments for corruption to make the theft of state funds more expensive for the criminal than the stealing of a goat.”
There is an examination and analysis of Nana Addo’s 2012 tour of the USA, as reported by the Daily Guide Africa on 9 February 2012, on: Leadership Paralysis, Eiu Analysis, And The Anas Principle Against Corruption | News Ghana.
One would have thought that the Al Jazeera undercover investigators emulated the President of Ghana’s oath and fidelity to fight corruption using the “Anas Principle” in unveiling the suspected corruption disclosed by the members of the Gold Mafia, whose stories are contained in the Al Jazeera documentaries involving African Presidents, and which incidentally included Nana Addo. One would also have, therefore, thought that the President of Ghana, who like Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion, would allow the Special Prosecutor to exercise his powers to investigate the allegations contained in the Al Jazeera undercover investigation documentary as I did in the Agyapa Royalties Transactions scam.
As things stand now, the President appears to be preempting the likely investigation by a committed and dutiful Special Prosecutor to investigate the contents of the undercover investigative documentary for corruption and/or corruption-related offences against his Government. The President’s conduct in attempting to preempt a corruption investigation could also be due to the fact that he is assured that the Special Prosecutor is a mere poodle looking for the low-hanging fruits, who will allow the President to pretend to pursue his own possible cover-ups with the letters of 11 April 2023 and 25 April 2023 from his office to Al Jazeera.
Where a suspected crime is a felony, and also gives rise to a civil remedy at the same time, the crime must be investigated and possibly prosecuted first, in my understanding of the law. Nature dictated my resignation as the Special Prosecutor on account of the cover-up the President wanted me to condone in the Agyapa Royalties Transaction investigation, otherwise I would have been in trouble again. I definitely would have begun investigations into these serious allegations of suspected corruption and/or corruption-related offences against the Government contained in the Al Jazeera documentary by now.
Now to the substance of the letters on the Al Jazeera undercover documentary that has given rise to this discourse. Al Jazeera was right to have stated that the President of Ghana’s response to its request for comments to the completed undercover investigation was that: “President Akufo-Addo of Ghana told us that he had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company.”
As a result of my examination and analysis of the President’s response to Al Jazeera, his non-denial that Mr. Alistair Mathias is his good friend, efforts by his underlings to deceive Ghanaians with tweets and spurious rationalizations in the media, and my demand for accountability, the Government wrote the letter with reference number OPS/2G4/23/401 dated 25 April 2025 to Al Jazeera to demonstrate that the underlings were acting upon the instructions of the President.
While the Office of the President’s letter under reference signed by the Nana Bediatu Asante, the Secretary to the President and another of the President’s cousin’s, refers to Al Jazeera’s letter of 2 April 2023 which was received on 6 April 2023, and a reply to this letter dated 11 April 2023 by the Legal Counsel to the President, Mr. Kow Abaka Essuman, acting on the instructions of the President, none of those letters was exhibited or made available to the public for an accountable and transparent evaluation.
The President’s letter of 25 April 2023, however, states the President’s alleged response to Al Jazeera as follows:
“The President had not been in practice since the year 2000 and the President had no recollection of acting as a lawyer, either personally or through his law firm, Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co for a Mr. Alistair Mathias or his company, Guldrest Resources.”
The above rendition is not different from what Al Jazeera quoted as being the President’s response. The opacity of the Government prevents us from knowing the reference number and the real content of the President’s letter of response dated 11 April 2023 to enable further interrogation. But we are informed for the first time that in his letter of 11 April 2023 the President wrote that:
‘In the circumstances further and better particulars were demanded from Al Jazeera to respond adequately to the allegations made in Al Jazeera’s letter. Al Jazeera was thus requested to provide information on the period for which the President allegedly provided legal representation to Mr. Alistair Mathias or his company, Guldrest Resources. Al Jazeera was requested to provide details of the “USD 100 million tender for state infrastructure” allegedly given to Mr. Alistair Mathias, which he constructed and kept a percentage in offshore accounts as stated in the letter as well as information on how the President personally benefitted unlawfully from the alleged “USD 100 million tender for state infrastructure.”’
Any reasonable person reading the above quoted third paragraph of the President’s letter to Al Jazeera dated 25 April 2023 cannot avoid the understanding that the second and third sentences in that paragraph were mere expatiations on the first sentence that was what was really conveyed in the earlier letter dated 11 April 2023. The operative words that: “Al Jazeera was thus requested to provide …” leaves one with this understanding. This explains why an accountable and transparent Government would have put all the cards on the table and not appear to be playing with the minds of the citizen with ambiguous references to letters and statements not subject to verification. The mandate to show integrity and leadership are imperative on such occasions.
The President’s letter of 25 April 2023 was written after the fourth series in a documentary of undercover investigations were aired to the world. The President is deemed to have viewed the fourth series of the documentary particularly in which Alistair Mathias made statements touching and concerning his relationship with the President of Ghana. The further and better particulars demanded by the President in his letter dated 25 April 2023 had already been made available to the whole world by the airing of the documentary. Other African Presidents were also damned by the accounts of various Gold Mafia members and operatives.
The alleged defamatory statements made against all the African Presidents including the President of Ghana were made by members of the Gold Mafia and their operatives who bear prime responsibility for those alleged defamatory statements. As I stated in my discourse dated 24 April 2023, I am yet to read a categorical denial that the President is not a good friend of Alistair Mathias or that he does not know Mr. Mathias and has never met him.
Paul Adom-Otchere’s attempted Goebbels-like propaganda on behalf of the President ,which roped in his protégée on the Supreme Court, leaves a lot of unanswered questions as to the friendship of the President with Mr. Mathias. That explains my characterization of the Paul Adom-Otchere’s propaganda on Metro TV Good Evening Ghana on 18 April 2023 as pernicious in the circumstances.
Al Jazeera never said that the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a good friend of Alistair Mathias. Mr. Mathias volunteered that information to the undercover investigators. Whatever other alleged defamatory statements that are on the documentary touching, affecting, and concerning any African President, including the President of Ghana, were made by the members of the Gold Mafia and their operatives to the undercover investigators.
With the publication of the fourth series of the documentary, – providing the further and better particulars demand by the President – why is the President not directing his threats to exact consequences for alleged defamation to his good friend Alistair Mathias first instead of Al Jazeera? Scare Al Jazeera or mere propaganda?
I have grave doubts whether the President intended Al Jazeera to take his letter of 25 April 2023 seriously or it was written as a piece of propaganda to divert the minds of Ghanaian patriots from the seriousness of the suspected corruption allegations made by Alistair Mathias against the Government of Ghana. The modus operandi of the President, since he assumed the reins of Government, convinces me that the President’s letter of 25 April 2023 is yet another deceptive propaganda ploy to allow the serious allegations of suspected corruption contained in the Gold Mafia documentary to be forgotten by the electorate.
The procedure followed in demanding a retraction and an apology from Al Jazeera for the allegedly defamatory statements also gives me worry as to the legality of the demand as having been made on behalf of the Republic of Ghana. Article 88(5) of the 1992 Constitution which is an entrenched provision mandatorily enjoins that:
“(5) The Attorney-General shall be responsible for the institution and conduct of all civil cases on behalf of the state; and all civil proceedings against the State shall be instituted against the Attorney-General as defendant.”
The President’s letter of 25 April 2023 is the normal letter the Attorney-General should be writing, if the Presidency seriously intends to preempt a Special Prosecutor corruption investigation and appear to pursue any alleged defamatory claims as put out to the public. Why will the President dissipate the public purse by having multiple public officers write letters to Al Jazeera instead of Alistair Mathias if he seriously intends to ultimately instruct the Attorney-General to institute formal civil action against Al Jazeera for defamation as the President cannot sue in his own name.
The 1992 Constitution protects Ghanaians against any form of abuse of power, lack of accountability, and transparency in the running of the affairs of the Republic of Ghana which is the collective patrimony of the sovereign people of Ghana. The presidential oath of office reinforces and affirms the demands and injunctions of the 1992 Constitution. The attempt by the Government to escape an investigation for suspected corruption arising from the confessions of Alistair Mathias, the President’s good friend, contained in the Al Jazeera Gold Mafia documentary through the side door of a purported threat of an action for defamation is arbitrary, lacks candor, and constitutes a blatant abuse of the powers of Government under the Constitution.
It is too late in the day for the President to be allowed to run away from the consequences of his own endorsement of the “Anas Principle”. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Nana Addo is reaping what he sowed by championing the “Anas Principle”: he must with exemplary dignity and integrity submit his Government to an anti- corruption investigation first. Patriotic Ghanaians, let all of us across political party divides, defend the 1992 Constitution by making our voices heard. Ghana First!
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has blamed Ghanaians for the recent controversial Electoral Commission (EC) appointment made by President Akufo-Addo.
The president on Monday, March 20, 2023, swore-in three new members of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) at the Jubilee House.
Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Reverend Akua Ofori Boateng’s nomination has been welcomed, however, Dr. Peter Appiahene’s appointment has been criticised as it is alleged that he sides with the ruling party, New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to Mr Amidu, this would not have happened if Ghanaians had held government to account over its past actions.
He noted that due to this cowardice, President Akufo-Addo and his government have been empowered to engage in actions that are contrary to the country’s laws.
“Nana Akufo-Addo would not have abused the spirit of Chapter Seven (7) of the 1992 Constitution on the sanctity of the right to vote and the Electoral Commission if We the People had not in the past five and half years, condoned the Government’s several abuses of power and impunity,” he said.
The former Special Prosecutor holds the assertion that “Autocrats are empowered and emboldened by the conviction that their citizens are so cowardly or passive that they may only feebly criticize government policies and decisions made in abuse of power and with impunity.”
“Autocrats have come to believe that whatever opposition the electorate has against their dictatorial decisions will soon be forgotten in a few weeks of “noise making” and still return them or their chosen successors to power at the next election,” Mr Amidu is quoted to have written by Ghanaweb.
Dr Appiahene is said to have held the following positions in the NPP:
1. Member of the 2022 Bono Regional Election Committee 2. Bono Regional IT Director for Election 2020 3. Bono Regional D-day Coordinator for Elections 2020 4. Member of the National Research and Data Analysis Team for Election 2020. 5. Regional Collation Officer representing NPP at the Bono EC office 6. Regional Collation Officer for NPP Internal Collation for Election 2020 7. Member of the Bono Regional Communications Team 8. Member of Let My Vote Count Alliance. 9. Organised training for all Bono Constituency D-Day Coordinators and Parliamentary Candidates, Chairmen and Secretaries for the 2020 Elections. 10. Organised training for all Bono Constituency IT coordinators and Polling Station Executives for Elections 2020. 11. Funding Member of UENR (University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani)TESCON 12. Patron of UENR TESCON 13. TESCON Member of the University of Education, Winneba
