Amidu’s firmness good for Ghana – Akwetey

The Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey has commended Special Prosecutor nominee Martin Amidu for his ‘firmness’ at the Appointments Committee on Tuesday.

According to Akwetey, the former attorney general exhibited passion towards the state despite the long hours of grilling by the appointments committee.

“Martin Amidu is firm on what he thinks is wrong and I think that was a good one. I think Martin Amidu connected very well with the people. If you do not have passion, you cannot fight the course of the people. He really showed that he was experienced. He demonstrated that indeed he was a constitutional activist,” Akwetey noted.

Meanwhile, Starr News has learnt that the Appointments Committee of Parliament has unanimously approved the nomination of Amidu as Special Prosecutor.

The approval, according to credible sources, was made hours after the almost nine-hour grilling of the former attorney general.

According to parliamentary practice, the plenary of the House will have to consider the approval of the appointments committee and vote on the nominee.

If finally cleared by Parliament and sworn in by the President, Amidu will become Ghana’s first Special prosecutor.

The Special Prosecutor IS a specialized agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically-exposed persons as well as individuals in the private sector implicated in corrupt practices and to prosecute the offences on the authority of the Attorney-General.

The Office is also expected to help reduce the workload on existing investigative agencies and, thereby, enhance their effectiveness.

The establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor has become necessary in view of the institutional bottlenecks that impede the fight against corruption.