Martin Amidu
The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has expressed worry over lack of logistics, personnel and other challenges he’s facing in executing his mandate.
He explained that the Office of the Special Prosecutor lacked the resources and requisite personnel to deliver and warned that the office would not be able to fully discharge its duties if the situation is not addressed soon.
Speaking at the National Audit Forum organised by the Audit Service, Mr Amidu noted that “I am saying this for the public to understand we have set up an office, we have to organise the office, have the requisite personnel and it does not take one day.
“The law says 90 days after the assumption of Office of the Special Prosecutor, pursuant legislation must be enacted, but as I speak today, I have no legislation so I use my common sense,” he lamented.
Parliament passed a law in November 2017 to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a specialised agency to investigate specific cases of corruption, involving public officers and individuals in the private sector implicated in corrupt practices.
But several months on, the office is yet to be fully effective after the brouhaha that greeted the appointment of the man affectionately called ‘Citizen Vigilante’, for his anti-corruption campaigns.
According to Mr Amidu, “the law says I can coordinate with other organisations, I coordinate with the Auditor-General, I coordinate with EOCO, I coordinate with other anti corruption agencies so as to find a way we can begin to work towards the ultimate end.”
“I have warned if most of the things are not done by the middle of this year the office may not be able to realise its mandate, because by middle of next year we are in an election year, if I arrest someone, we will look at which party does he or she hold the insurance card for?”
The Attorney-General, Gloria Akuffo, in March 2018 indicated that some administrative arrangements were underway to equip the Office of the Special Prosecutor with the requisite resources.
Mr Amidu was sworn in by the President as Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor in February 2018.
Recently, he said his office will only prosecute serious cases of alleged corruption due to the limited resources available to his office and was however quick to add his office will not spare corrupt officials since it will devise measures to deal with offenses. –citinewsroom.com
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