Special Prosecutor's office: 'It’ll be suicidal to give up on Martin Amidu' – Domelevo

Ghana’s Auditor-General (A-G), Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, has said the government must properly resource the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) as the status quo is not helping Mr Martin Amidu to achieve the desired results.

According to Mr Domelevo, Mr Amidu is doing his best, however, until the needed steps are taken, he cannot be effective as Special Prosecutor.

In his opinion: “The set-up which is there [at the OSP] currently cannot help him [Mr Amidu] to deliver”.

Mr Domelevo rallied support for Mr Amidu in an interview with Blessed Sogah on Class91.3FM’s ‘State of the Nation’ programme, saying: “If we put any other person in his position, we will still get what we are getting, if not worse”.

“If we will dismiss Martin Amidu at this point in time, then we shouldn’t have even set it [OSP] in the first place,” he maintained.

He said Mr Amidu is focused on his job “but the speed at which he can work [and] the size of delivery which Ghanaians are expecting, is not what is coming because he is not taking off”.

According to Mr Domelevo’s assessment, Mr Amidu is spending time on administrative issues which the authorities could have tasked others to do for him so that he could “go into operation or action”. “So, now when he comes to the office, he is now looking at the structure that has been put up; where do we get people to fix this, who do we get to do that for us, instead of the main job”.

Mr Domelevo said even though GHS 180 million has been allocated to Mr Amidu, it is just on paper.

“In the public sector, when they say the budget has been approved for you, it is paper, it doesn’t give you anything. Even when they say that they have given you a Warrant, it is still paper. When they say a Realise has been made to you, it is still paper. You don’t have the money. It is only when they give you a bank transfer advice that the money has now been transferred into your account that you have money,” he explained.

For him, “It will be very suicidal on our part” to give up on Mr Amidu, pointing out that in fighting crime, mismanagement and corruption, deterrence is very important.

“When people know that you tolerate, they misbehave. If they think and know that this guy will not tolerate, they don’t misbehave,” he added.