He said he was confident that the former Attorney General will pursue justice given his credentials.
President Akufo Addo on Thursday announced the nomination of anti-corruption crusader Martin Amidu as the country’s first Special Prosecutor pending parliamentary approval, to the surprise of many.
The appointment comes barely a month after the President assented to the Bill which was passed by Parliament despite a vigorous debate.
The appointment of Mr. Amidu, a known member of the opposition NDC who has been very critical of the then John Mahama administration for various corruption scandals, will indeed come as a shock to many, considering that he was never mentioned when names were been bandied around in the media.
Mr. Amidu was widely commended and celebrated for his fight against corruption, when he single-handedly pursued known NDC businessman Alfred Woyome to the Supreme Court, and secured a ruling for the retrieval of the Ghc51million judgement debt paid to him by the state under the NDC administration.
“It is a very smart move by the President to appoint Martin Amidu who is a known NDC man. If it was a man who had NPP sympathy one would have thought that he will have NPP leanings towards people who will be incriminated. But if you appoint a man like Martin Amidu who is a very strict person as far as the law is concerned, it is a very smart move on the part the President. He is one of the finest people I have worked with and I know he will pursue justice whatever the case is,” Nunoo Mensah said.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor is one of the major ways by which the New Patriotic Party government promised to deal with corruption within government.
The Special Prosecutor is expected to take legal action against past and present government officers believed to have engaged in acts of corruption while in office.
The President in announcing the name, said he received the nomination from the Attorney General Gloria Akuffo, and had accepted the nominee, whose name will be forwarded to Parliament for approval when the House reconvenes from recess.
“The Attorney General is by a letter dated to me Thursday 11th January 2018 addressed to me exercised her power of nomination and submitted to me for my acceptance the name of the proposed special prosecutor. I have accepted the Attorney General’s nomination and will in turn submit for Parliament’s approval when it reconvenes on 23rd of January 2018 for its first meeting of this New Year the name of Martin Alamisi Benz Kaiser Amidu to be the first Special Prosecutor under the law,” he said.
The President noted that, Mr. Amidu had the requisite integrity and independence of character to occupy such challenging office.
“I have done so because I am fully convinced that Mr. Martin Amidu, a prominent legal personality who held the high office of the Attorney General of the Republic in the government of the late President John Evans Attah Mills has the requisite integrity, competence, courage and independence of character to discharge effectively the responsibilities of this office.”
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Source: citifmonline.com
