Martin Amidu flaws Special Prosecutor’s bill

Former Attorney General Martin Amidu has said the Special Prosecutor’s Bill laid before Parliament is deficient and cannot deal with the canker of corruption in Ghana.

The vociferous anti-corruption crusader says the bill in its current state has some inadequacies which cannot permit the office to deal with systemic corruption in the absence of a strong personality in the office.

In a 25-page critique of the yet to be passed Special Prosecutor’s Bill, Martin Amidu noted that it would have been prudent if existing structures at the Attorney General’s Department are enhanced instead of the creation of a new office in that regard.

He also added that some dishonest forces within the incumbent government, allegedly part of the framers of the bill succeeded in crafting some clauses that will hamper the fight against corruption in totality.

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With urgency, Martin A.B.K Amidu has appealed to President Akufo Addo to scrutinize the bill to ensure that the law with which he intends to fight corruption will not suffocate the crusade against the canker.

“Will somebody call the President’s attention to read Clause 3 of the Bill before Parliament and confirm whether or not he endorsed the exception in sub-clause 4 for submission to Parliament? The retention of sub-clause 4 of Clause 3 of the Bill will make it unnecessary to enact any Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill into law.”

“I have no doubt that the insertion of Clause 3 (4) that negates the whole Bill before Parliament was done by a strong and powerful cabal which wishes to harvest its share of the proceeds of corruption that comes with public officers who find their way into public office through the deception of the appointing authority of rendering service with integrity to the Republic. The insertion of Clause 3 (4) in the Bill is, therefore, a wake-up call for the President to watch his so-called incorruptible appointees because as the saying goes, it is not all that glitters which is gold.”

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“I am fortified in the belief that the attempt to pull a fast one on Ghanaians by the insertion of Clause 3 (4) of the Bill to negate the fight against corruption is the work of a strong and powerful cabal within the government because they succeeded in ensuring that the Memorandum to the Bill was silent on this important matter so that it will not catch the eye of the casual Ghanaian reading public.”

Meanwhile, the Attorney General in an exclusive interview with Primenewsghana said the NPP government is not in a hurry to drag people to court over allegations of corruption levelled against them. 

 

primenewsghana.com/Ghana News