Amidu's claim that Ofori-Atta visited him needless - Adom-Otchere

The host of Good Evening Ghana Paul Adom-Otchere has hit back at the former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu for saying that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was at his house the day he wrote the Agyapa report.

Mr Amidu revealed Ken Ofori-Atta was in his house on 21 October 2020 while he (Amidu) was compiling his corruption and anti-corruption risk assessment report on the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal.

Adom-Otchere speaking in the editorial segment of the Good Evening Ghana show on November 19, 2020, said: “What is the effect of this Hon Martin Amidu? What is the effect of telling us that Ken Ofori-Atta came to your house? You say that Ken Ofori-Atta is your friend and you say he came to your house on 21st October when you were writing the [Agyapa] report. What did Ken Ofori-Atta ask of you?”

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“The report has been published anyway. Nobody withheld you from publishing the report, but this voice note we just heard, what is Martin Amidu saying,”

Paul Adom-Otchere continued: “You say Ken Ofori-Atta came to your house, why are you telling us that...what should we do with that information? When he came to your house, you didn’t tell us, you wrote your report, you published your 64-page brilliantly written report, you are now telling us after the president has responded to you.”

Paul Adom-Otchere charged, “I think with the greatest of respect, it is inconsequential and completely immaterial to anything, that Ken Ofori-Atta came to your house, so what, without telling us that he came to my house and said I should delete paragraph four, he came to my house and said I should delete paragraph one; you are just continuing with what people might think is a smear campaign; that’s just a smear campaign.”

Martin Amidu in an earlier interview with Citi FM Thursday morning, alleged that Ken Ofori-Atta, who is his friend, came to his house while he was writing the corruption and anti-corruption risk assessment report on the Agyapa Minerals Royalties deal.

“The fact that you are in government doesn’t mean that when you are dissatisfied about a report, you go after the person or the fellow,” he said, revealing: “The Minister of Finance has been my friend for years; why will I go for him? When I was writing the report, didn’t he come to this house? Was he not here on 21 October? What did I tell him? Why is he now churning out information about me and targets and all that? Should I come out? Let’s stop it and I say let’s stop it before we wash dirty linen in public.”

Martin Amidu on Monday, November 16, 2020, resigned from his position as the Special Prosecutor.

In a resignation letter to the President, Martin Amidu said: "The one condition upon which I accepted to be nominated as the Special Prosecutor when you invited me to your Office on 10th January 2018 was your firm promise to me that you will respect and ensure same by your Government for my independence and freedom of action as the Special Prosecutor."

The Presidency on Tuesday released a letter to counter allegations Mr Amidu made in his resignation letter.

Portions of the President's respond said: “At no point did the President ask you to shelve the report, so he could “handle the matter”. It is difficult to see in what way and in what context the President would seek to “handle the matter” when the matter was already public knowledge and had led to the Ministry of Finance suspending action on the Agyapa transaction in anticipation of your report”, the President said.