Wereko-Brobbey praises Martin Amidu for vigilante work

Outspoken politician and political commentator, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, has joined the chorus of commendation heaped on former Attorney-General, Martin Amidu, for his nationalistic efforts at protecting the public purse.

Mr. Amidu’s decision to go to the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, against all odds, to challenge the legality of payments made by the state to Waterville Holdings Ltd. and Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, according to Dr. Wereko-Brobby, was vintage Martin Amidu.

The Supreme Court last week granted reliefs sought by the former A-G and ordered Waterville Holdings to return to the state, some €25 million it obtained without any legal basis.

The Justices in obiter statement lauded Mr. Amidu for his patriotism, and chastised the lawyers for Waterville for failing in their duty to protect the state from the frivolous claims.

Speaking on the subject on Joy FM on Monday, Dr. Wereko-Brobby said Martin Amidu had a reputation for diligence and hard work throughout his years of public service.

Professing his knowledge of the Sandema native, he said, “Martin was Deputy Attorney-General for much of the PNDC (Provisional National Defence Council) era…and the fascinating thing about Martin was that in those struggles to get the airwaves liberated and the cases involving Radio Eye and …(Joy FM) and in the cases involving Kwame Pianim and others, Martin as Acting Attorney-General actually made it a point to come and prosecute the state’s case himself and he did it admirably. I mean, in he and Amoono Naiza against Akufo-Addo and Sheishei (Akoto Ampaw), these were fantastic legal tussles done in very professional, uncontroversial manner and done in very friendly environment.”

“I haven’t seen many Attorney-Generals who have led from the front as he (Martin Amidu) did since those years,” he added.

Dr. Wereko-Brobby, also known as Tarzan, said although there were the likes of Martin Amidu in the public service currently, they had been cowed into submission by the political system which he said had itself “become more vindictive to people like that who want to uphold the good name and the standards.”

He said the structure of the public service was such that a person’s fortunes depended largely on the whims and caprices of the political elite, and many independent minded public servants who would like to follow the example of Martin Amidu had cowered.

Mr. Amidu himself was sacked as an Attorney-General when he publicly stated that government-aligned newspapers were attacking him at the behest of some unnamed ministers because “my integrity and professionalism as a lawyer was a threat to the concealment of gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana in which they might be implicated.”

The government explained that he was sacked for misconduct and that he failed to mention the ministers he accused of seeking to conceal crimes against the people of Ghana, a claim he vehemently rejected and challenged the then Chief of Staff, Henry Martey Newman, to publish a letter he sent to the president on the subject.

After his dismissal, Mr. Amidu vowed to soldier on and fight even at the peril of his life to ensure that which had been done against the state which was wrong, was reversed.

His efforts paid off when the Supreme Court in a 9 – 0 decision ordered Waterville to return some €25m to the state because the contract that the firm claimed had been abrogated giving rise to its claims was itself a nullity because it had not been approved by Parliament as required by the Constitution.

Mr. Amidu, vilified and criticized by a section of the public for his own criticism of officialdom, has since the ruling, become a hero.