Parliament set to approve Amidu tomorrow

Parliament is expected to approve the nomination of Mr Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor on Tuesday.

That will be after the consideration and adoption of the report by the Appointments Committee of Parliament (ACP), which has, by consensus, approved the nomination of Mr Amidu as the Special Prosecutor.

The Majority Leader and Chairman of the Business Committee of Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, made this known last Friday while presenting the business statement for this week.

He said the ACP was billed to present its report to Parliament next Tuesday.

Recall

The Chairman of the ACP, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, told the Daily Graphic that all the ACP members, with the exception of one, voted in favour of the nominee.

He, however, did not give the name of the member who did not vote in support of the nominee.

The MP for Tamale North and member of the ACP, Mr Suhuyini Alhassan Sayibu, reportedly confirmed that he was the member who did not vote in support of Mr Amidu.

During the more than seven hours vetting, Mr Amidu indicated that he would not be selective in dealing with corruption cases.

He said his office would go after anyone who had embezzled state funds without considering political colouration.

Background

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo nominated Mr Amidu known as Citizen Vigilante for his anti-corruption crusade as the Special Prosecutor.

The appointment of Mr Amidu was a shock to many as he was a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), although he had been critical of his party in government.

The President communicated the appointment of Mr Amidu to Parliament and the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, consequently referred the appointment to the ACP for consideration.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor is a specialised agency which is to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically exposed persons and persons in the private sector involved in the commission of corruption, and to prosecute the offences on the authority of the Attorney-General.

The establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is one of the key campaign promises of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Court case

A day before the vetting, a former Deputy Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, filed a suit at the Supreme Court claiming that Mr Amidu, 66, was beyond the statutory age of employment into public service and was seeking an order of the court to have his nomination annulled.

In a statement of case, Dr Ayine is praying the court to declare that "by true and proper interpretation of Articles 190(1) (d) and 199 (4) of the 1992 Constitution, no person above the age of 65 years is eligible for employment in any public office created under Article 190(1) (d)."