Corruption: Akufo-Addo has tied up Martin Amidu’s hand – Mahama alleges

Former President John Dramani Mahama says President Akufo-Addo has tied up the hands of the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Martin Amidu from prosecuting corrupt government officials.

This, he said, is the reason why Mr. Amidu is unable to indict any government officials on corruption related issues.

“The office of the Special Prosecutor is his (Akufo-Addo's) own baby and yet, he has tied the hands of the Special Prosecutor. We all know Mr. Amidu is a very vociferous lawyer and I am sure that if his hands were freed to really investigate these cases, he will have gotten some prosecutions by now”, Mr Mahama said in an interview on XYZ TV, monitored by Graphic Online on Sunday, August 23, 2020.

According to Mr. Mahama, the Akufo-Addo led government has lost the fight against corruption hence their silence on the subject at their manifesto launch which was held at the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region on Saturday, August 22, 2020.

“I’m not surprised because they (NPP) have actually lost the fight against corruption. This president is not willing to fight corruption. And everybody knows that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back at you and depending on who you are in his (Akufo-Addo) administration, you can do whatever you want and get away with it”.

“Because he will (Akufo- Addo) personally clear you and say that nothing at all has happened. I mentioned the other day that there is a long list of cases of corruption and he has not made anybody to investigate it”.

“My point is that when you fight corruption you need to do it so that it becomes a deterrent, so that others will not engage in it and so obviously they have lost the fight”, he stressed.

Mr. Mahama was of the view that the failure of the Akufo-Addo government to fight corruption as promised, has weakened the confidence of Ghanaians in politicians.

The former president further stated that it was unfortunate that the Auditor General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo, who he described as “energetic” was asked to proceed on leave. “Look at what has happened to Domelevo. Domelevo is seen as an energetic Auditor General who has taken on quite some high profile issues, it is a constitutional body and it is supposed to be independent of government in order that the occupant can do his job properly.

"Unfortunately, this president who is a lawyer and must know the constitution than I has asked the auditor general to go on leave. It is the same as asking the EC Commissioner go on leave or the Chief Justice to go on leave”, he said.

He said Akufo-Addo did so because the Auditor General was investigating someone who was close to the president.

“When you’re on leave and they change the lock to your office, it means there is no intention that you are coming back, so obviously this government has lost the fight against corruption”, he said.

President Akufo-Addo in a statement dated Monday, June 29, and signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, directed the Auditor General to proceed on his accumulated leave and hand over all matters relating to his office to Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, the Deputy Auditor-General, to act as Auditor-General, “until his return from his well-deserved leave.”

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