Enquire why Special Prosecutor isn’t working — Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has expressed concern about the delay on the part of the Special Prosecutor (SP), Mr Martin Amidu, in delivering on his mandate.

He, therefore, urged the leadership of the Assemblies of God Church to enquire from the Special Prosecutor what might be holding him up from delivering his mandate.

The former President raised the issue when a delegation from the church called on him to inform him of the demise of their former General Superintendent, Rev. Dr Simon Asore, in Accra last Wednesday.

He said a delay in identifying and prosecuting corrupt acts by public figures would lead to impunity and the further perpetration of crime and corruption.

“I wonder what is holding him up. We do not want to see the perpetuation of crime. We don’t want to see crimes being committed with impunity.

The power of virtue must override the power of vice,” the former President said.

Former President Rawlings said after all, President Akufo-Addo had also stated that he was expecting the Special Prosecutor to deliver on his mandate when he (SP) was ready.

Tribute

Paying tribute to Rev. Dr Asore, who was a member of the Council of State from 1996 to 2000, the former President described him as a quiet and self-respecting man of serious integrity and discipline and that men such as Asore who upheld a very high level of integrity could not die in vain.

Recalling why Rev. Asore was invited into the Council of State, the former President said: “We were searching for somebody with honour.

Some of the tools needed to take out the rustiness were themselves rusty then, but he was a refreshing man of integrity whose spirituality was very high.”

An associate of the former President, Dr Anthony Dzegede, described Rev. Asore as a selfless man who fulfilled a great commission and left a legacy unlike the charlatans who instead of feeding the sheep, fed on the sheep.

Gratitude

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Rev. Dr Harry Insaidoo, expressed gratitude to former President Rawlings for the role he played in bringing Rev. Asore to the public limelight.

He also thanked the government for arranging a state funeral for the departed former General Superintendent.

Rev. Insaidoo said Rev. Dr Asore never pursued materialism and worked hard to expand the church from 250 missions to almost 1,900 missions during his tenure as head of the church.

Background

Mr Amidu was sworn into office as the first Special Prosecutor on February 23, 2018 after he had received approval from Parliament despite an earlier request for the House to suspend the approval because of a writ against his nomination which was pending at the Supreme Court.

He is a man of few words but can write pages when an issue of national concern crops up.

He fears no one and says it as it is. He did not spare his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), when issues of corruption came up when the party was in government.

He led a crusade against a known financier of the NDC, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, and succeeded in securing a judgment against the businessman to refund the GH¢51.2 million judgement debt paid to him after introducing the word “gargantuan corruption” first in Ghana’s political landscape.

Education

Mr Amidu graduated from the University of Ghana in 1976 with an LLB (Hons) and the Ghana Law School in 1978 with a Barrister at Law (BL) degree.

He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution from the Antioch University, Ohio, USA.