I'd rather be a coward than accept ‘dubious’ monies - Amidu

Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has declared his lack of tolerance for corruption and looting by rejecting what he describes as ‘suspicious’ monies transferred to his bank account.

“Caution they say is the better part of valour and that is why I prefer to be a coward in these matters,” he stated.

In a statement following what he says happened few days ago, the Special Prosecutor revealed that he discovered on 3rd August an unusual deposit in his current account, and subsequently instructed that the monies be reversed and returned to the transferor.

“On 3rd August 2018, I was amazed when I went to one of the branches of my Bank to make a cash withdrawal by cheque from my current account only to be informed that the balance to my credit on the account had leaped more than five-fold from my last balance on 7th July 2018. My account had been credited on 19th July 2018 with a transferred payment.

I immediately made a verbal objection to the Branch Manager where I had gone to make the withdrawal in view of my earlier standing instructions to my Branch Manager not to accept any payments or transfers into my account without first clearing with me personally owing to an earlier incident when a similar payment was transferred to the credit of my account without notice or authorization from me in 2015,” Amidu wrote in his latest article.

He further explained that he deemed it a necessity that he shared the information with the public considering his constitutional mandate to fight against corruption and to urge other citizens to ‘instruct their bankers to return suspicious payments of public funds into their accounts’.

“I am sharing my most recent experience in this matter with the public as part of my constitutional prevention of corruption duty as a citizen of Ghana to let other citizens know that the responsibility is upon citizens to instruct their bankers to return suspicious payments of public funds into their accounts. This buys one time to investigate the transaction and to decide whether it is genuine for one to accept it. Running the account with the suspicious payments of public funds for months and years and turning around to make excuses gives the account holder zero credibility. When the political elite are the recipients of such illegal public funds it takes on the colour of impunity and untouchability.”

“It is the proactive duty of citizens to save the public purse from looting by keeping an eye on one’s own bank accounts. Public Officers, which include all public office holders, are bound by the Public Property Protection Act, 1977 (SMCD 140) and have a higher obligation to refund such public monies timeously to the public purse. Section 179A of Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) that deals with abuse of public office for private gain, which is a corruption-related offence, also prohibits every public office holder from engaging in such conduct of impunity. Caution they say is the better part of valour and that is why I prefer to be a coward in these matters”.

Below are details of his full statement