Speaking in a meeting with the new Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Tsutomu Himeno, Mr. Rawlings said: “the appointment of Amidu as Special Prosecutor from outside his own party shows the President is serious. It vindicates some of us. No developed country should hold back in assisting our country to improve the lives of our people.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”D8g6X0WXf6Bpzbc8u0GcNmFiEPckhlQa”]Mr. Amidu after his appointment on January 11, 2018, faced the vetting committee last Tuesday. His nomination will either be approved or rejected by Parliament on Tuesday, February 19, 2018.

While seeking increased cooperation between the two countries [Ghana and Japan], especially in creating employable opportunities for Ghanaian youth, the former President at the meeting which was held on Friday, Flt Lt Rawlings also commended Japan for its continued support for Ghana over the years

Touching on international matters, the former President said while globalization has created much wealth it has also led to a great deal of impoverishment , due to the unequal distribution of wealth caused by the ‘savagery of capitalism’ as stated by Pope John Paul II in one of his pastoral letters.

“The inequalities created by capitalism and the impunity of political power may be leading to the emasculation and helplessness of the mass of people on the one hand and on the other it will no doubt and definitely be triggering outrage, anger and hatred which translate into acts of violence, suicidal tendencies, terrorism and pockets of political instability,” Mr. Rawlings said.

Flt Lt Rawlings said though Japan is an advanced wealthy country, that wealth has not manifested into the kind of outrage found in other places because the culture of the Japanese inhibits and prevents impunity.

“Others need to learn a few lessons from countries like Japan, China, South Korea and a few others that have held on to the humility of power. The culture of respect for the people is what has helped to prevent the arrogance of power.  Though our (Ghana’s) culture of respect is not supposed to be any different, we have not been able to prevent impunity. It is about time we woke up to the negatives of the savagery of capitalism and tyranny of the misuse of wealth,” the former President stated.

Construction of flyover at Tema motorway 

Ambassador Himeno informed the former President that Japan was involved in the construction of a flyover at the Tema motorway roundabout, and also the drilling of boreholes in some deprived areas of the country.

The Japanese people, the Ambassador stated, very much appreciate the relationship with Ghana.

This, he said is evident in the support his country has given to projects such as the Noguchi Memorial Institute, the role of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) among others.

Former President Rawlings also extended a message of health and good wishes from his family to Emperor Akihito and his family as well as Professor Hishashi Owada, former diplomat and currently a member of the International Court of Justice.

Rawlings hails ‘fearless’ Amidu’s selection as Special Prosecutor

When Amidu was appointed in January as the Special Prosecutor nominee, former President Jerry John Rawlings praised his nomination, saying Nana Akufo-Addo had “risen above partisanship and recognized a highly principled citizen.”

In a statement, Mr. Rawlings said Nana Akufo-Addo “couldn’t have made a better choice… Mr. Amidu has proven to be a fearless anti-corruption crusader whose pursuit of truth and justice has won him national admiration.”

In a statement conveying his praise, Mr. Rawlings urged Ghanaians to offer Mr. Amidu “the required support and information in pursuit of what will undoubtedly be a challenging role.”

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Amidu’s public vetting has received widespread commendation as many stakeholders believe he performed creditably.

The Appointments Committee also unanimously recommended his confirmation moments after its grueling 7-hour public hearing exercise.

Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka MubarakThe Minority Chief Whip in a Citi News interview said frantic efforts are being made to have the confirmation done tomorrow [Friday].

Martin Amidu on Tuesday, February 13, faced Parliament’s Appointments Committee in what could probably be the longest ever parliamentary vetting session for a single individual in the 4th Republic.

The Special Prosecutor nominee responded to over 180 questions from all members of the committee in the over 7-hour long session.

The National Democratic Congres (NDC) Minority asked the most questions; 75% of all questions asked, with the caucus’ leader, Haruna Iddrisu, being the individual who asked the most number of questions.

Most of the questions focused on past statements and articles Martin Amidu had written.  There is, however, a pending suit at the Supreme Court by NDC member and former Deputy Attorney General Dominic Ayine, challenging Amidu’s nomination.

He argues that Mr. Amidu, 66, has passed the age that requires him to serve in that office.

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By: Sixtus Don-Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Appointments c’ttee to present Amidu’s report on Friday appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amidu believes his appointment automatically makes him impartial.

[contextly_sidebar id=”yZIU42HfSWCVMQg327Ccrq36JIQOKTtS”] As a result, he failed to give a specific answer when he was asked whether he had resigned from the NDC or not.

“ If you read Section 3 of the Criminal Offences Act, the definition of a public officer includes a potential public officer, so when the President nominated me and announced it to the whole world, I became a potential public officer, recognized under the Criminal code as a public officer, so as far as I am concerned, since that day , I am neutral, and that is why you have not heard my voice over the air saying anything because I am coming to an office which has to be neutral and impartial.

“One does not need to resign. The Supreme Court has held that while you are a public officer you cannot take part in party politics. I think it involves Dr. Adjei and co. I did that case in the Supreme Court, so I do not need to make a formal resignation of anything.”

Mr. Amidu also clarified that, he knew what neutrality as a public officer entailed, having served as Ghana’s Attorney General for long.

“It is by operation of law. The articles I’ve written have been in favour of all the political divides. I’ll live by the ethics of the legal profession as the Special Prosecutor. I’m the longest serving Deputy AG, so I know what it means to be neutral.”

Mr. Amidu was nominated by President Nana Addo on January 11 for the Special Prosecutor position.

He is being vetted by the Appointments Committee who will subsequently reject or confirm his nomination.

Even before his nomination as Special Prosecutor, some members of the NDC including former Chief of Staff, Valerie Sawyerr, had raised concerns over his membership, asking him to resign from the party, since he had “become a so-called crusader, sinking lower and lower in the NDC as he seems to rise higher in the NPP.”

Valerie had argued that Martin Amidu began this campaign when he was “relieved of his post as Attorney- General after attempting to assault a sitting Head of State.”

Removal from Office

Martin Amidu was relieved of his post on Thursday January 19, 2012, by President John Evans Atta Mills under circumstances described by aids as ‘his misconduct’ at a meeting chaired by the president at the Osu Castle on January 18, 2012.

He made allegations relating to alleged financial impropriety on the part of another cabinet minister, claims he was asked by the then President to substantiate. He challenged his dismissal, and got a court ruling in his favour.

Martin Amidu singlehandedly challenged the legality of the payments after being relieved of his post at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money as Supreme Court judges unanimously granted the Attorney-General clearance to execute the court’s judgment, ordering Mr. Woyome to refund the cash to the state.

Following the delays in retrieving the money, Mr. Amidu in 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to examine Alfred Woyome, on how he would pay back the money, after the Attorney General’s office under the Mahama Administration, led by the former Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, discontinued a similar application.

In February 2017 however, Mr. Amidu withdrew his suit seeking an oral examination, explaining that the change of government under the New Patriotic Party under His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo and his Attorney General, Miss Gloria Akuffo’s assurance to retrieve all judgment debts wrongfully paid to individuals Mr. Woyome in response prayed the Supreme Court to stay proceedings on the oral examination since he had filed for a review on the case.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I don’t have to formally resign from NDC – Amidu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amidu threw the challenge while answering a question by Minority Chief Whip, Mubarak Muntaka, on specific functions he played as Chairman of the Public Agreement Board between 1983 and 1993, during his vetting in Parliament today [Tuesday].

[contextly_sidebar id=”7yAqnN8c1pQ7g6N1ChujGrsl5SsTfFVo”]Mr. Amidu recalled that, he shot down contracts which were largely not in the interest of the country while serving as the Board’s Chairman.

He believes his firm stance against corruption at the time makes him competent for the Special Prosecutor position.

The lawyer was however quick to add that, the Appointments Committee could disqualify him if they wanted “somebody who will look the other way.”

“I was so meticulous with my members that unless the contract was in the national interest, I rejected it and I had a hell of problems with Senior Ministers, PNDC members … I did my job and nobody has been accused of entering into a contract which was not in the national interest.”

“That is the job I did and that is why if you want anybody who will be meticulous in investigation and prosecution, the President has made the best choice for you.”

Mr. Amidu, a man who has earned the nickname ‘Citizen Vigilante’ for his no-nonsense stance and campaign against corruption particularly in the NDC administration, was named by President Akufo-Addo on January 11, 2018, after an emergency cabinet meeting at the Flagstaff House.

The appointment of Mr. Amidu, a known member of the opposition NDC who has been very critical of the then John Mahama administration for various corruption scandals, came as a shock to many.

Mr. Amidu was widely commended and celebrated for his fight against corruption, when he single-handedly pursued known NDC businessman Alfred Woyome to the Supreme Court, and secured a ruling for the retrieval of the Ghc51million judgement debt paid to him by the state under the NDC administration.

Some have suggested the NDC fears Mr. Amidu may pursue a political agenda to jail members of the NDC but the party has stated on several occasions stated that it does not harbors such fears.

Most members of the NDC who spoke about Mr. Amidu’s appointment, however, acknowledged his competence for the office.

Nothing to lose at vetting

Prior to his vetting, Martin Amidu had stressed that he had nothing to win or lose whatever the results of the vetting would be.

H also said he was confident he would win a national poll if the president had put him out to be voted on by Ghanaians whether to be accepted or rejected.

“One thing I know from the outpouring of support for the President’s nomination of my humble self as the Special Public Prosecutor is that if the President’s wishes were put to a national referendum, all the 275 constituencies of the country will return an overwhelmingly positive endorsement for his choice.”

Ayine sues Amidu 

Mr. Amidu’s appointment has not been without controversy as barely 24 hours to the vetting, a former Deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, filed a lawsuit challenging his nomination.

The former deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, among other things posited that, Mr. Amidu, being 66 years of age, is too old to hold that office.

The lawsuit, which was filed at the Supreme Court yesterday [Monday], did not place an injunction on the vetting process, but is praying the court to annul the entire process if it finds merit in the case against Mr. Amidu.

According to Dominic Ayine, it will be unconstitutional for Martin Amidu to be approved for the position.

In his argument, he said the Office of the Special Prosecutor falls under the broad category of public officers who by the constitution must retire by age 60 with a possible extension to 65 years.

The Special Prosecutor is however under Article 145 of the constitution, given the conditions of service of Court of Appeal judges who retires at age 70, but Dominic Ayine holds a different view.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Martin Amidu was named as the Special Prosecutor by the President on Thursday January 11, 2018.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wmpQ08mJjJhuOJPAegcPZCvh9QfJVurb”]He is expected to be approved by Parliament in the coming days.

Though many have since commended the President’s nomination, with some describing it as a masterstroke, Mr. Tamakloe believes Mr. Amidu will not bring anything new to the table, given that he failed to prosecute many corruption-related cases when he served as Attorney General under former President, John Evans Atta Mills.

“What we cannot also take away is the fact that the conduct of the person appointed is there for all to see. You cannot dismiss those concerns. With the greatest respect, he was the Attorney General from 1992 to 2000 until he became running mate to Prof. Mills. Maybe. Can you tell me the number of corruption cases that he prosecuted? Having become the Attorney General to Prof. Mills, we all do know the number of criminal cases that he prosecuted so where is this business?”

‘Celebrate Amidu’s appointment’

Mr. Tamakloe’s comment comes despite a call by the Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey for the NDC to celebrate the nomination of a member of their party, Martin Amidu, as the country’s first Special Prosecutor.

According to him, the NDC should be happy because President Akufo-Addo has found the kind of quality needed to fight corruption in the country within the opposition party, describing it as a good sign.

“…It is good for the party to rather celebrate that they have a person that they made, that they shaped. He stood against them on principle and it’s good that their opponent who is in power now has seen that quality and wants to put it to greater use of the country. I think that is commendable,” he added.

About Special Prosecutor office

President Akufo-Addo signed into law, the Bill setting up the Special Prosecutor office after it was approved by Parliament in November 2017.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor marks the fulfilment of a major campaign promise of Nana Akufo-Addo in the run-up to the 2016 elections aimed at fighting corruption.

But members of the opposition NDC had complained that the office cannot be independent if the Special Prosecutor was going to be a loyalist of the NPP.

The President in announcing Amidu, said he received the nomination from the Attorney General Gloria Akuffo, and has accepted the nominee, whose name will be forwarded to Parliament for approval when the House reconvenes from recess.

“The Attorney General is by a letter dated to me Thursday 11th January 2018 addressed to me exercised her power of nomination and submitted to me for my acceptance the name of the proposed special prosecutor. I have accepted the Attorney General’s nomination and will, in turn, submit for Parliament’s approval when it reconvenes on 23rd of January 2018 for its first meeting of this New Year the name of Martin Alamisi Benz Kaiser Amidu to be the first Special Prosecutor under the law,” he said.

The President noted that, Mr. Amidu has the requisite integrity and independence of character to occupy such challenging office.

“I have done so because I am fully convinced that Mr. Martin Amidu, a prominent legal personality who held the high office of the Attorney General of the Republic in the government of the late President John Evans Attah Mills has the requisite integrity, competence, courage and independence of character to discharge effectively the responsibilities of this office.”

More About Martin Amidu

Martin A. B. K. Amidu was the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice from January 2011 till January 2012 under the late President John Evans Atta-Mills.

Amidu, a member of the NDC, served as the Deputy Attorney-General for about the last four years of the Provisional National Defence Council military government.

After civilian rule was established in the Fourth Republic in January 1993, he continued to serve in the government of Jerry Rawlings as Deputy Attorney-General. This he did for both terms lasting eight years until January 2001.

In the December 2000 presidential elections, he stood as the running mate of John Atta Mills. They both however lost to President John Kufuor that year.

In January 2010, following a cabinet reshuffle, President Mills replaced Cletus Avoka with Martin Amidu as the Minister for Interior. As Amidu is a Builsa, some people raised questions as to his neutrality in dealing with the Bawku conflict. He, however, went successfully through vetting by the Parliament of Ghana and has since assumed his post.

Following the second major cabinet reshuffle by President Mills, Amidu became the Attorney general and Minister for Justice of Ghana.

Removal from Office

Martin Amidu was relieved of his post on Thursday January 19, 2012, by President John Evans Atta Mills under circumstances described by aides as ‘his misconduct’ at a meeting chaired by the president at the Osu Castle on January 18, 2012.

He made allegations relating to alleged financial impropriety on the part of another cabinet minister, allegations he was asked by the president to substantiate.

Martin Amidu, the former Attorney General, single-handedly challenged the legality of the payments after being relieved off his post at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money as Supreme Court judges unanimously granted the Attorney-General clearance to execute the court’s judgment, ordering Mr. Woyome to refund the cash to the state.

Following the delays in retrieving the money, Mr. Amidu in 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to examine Alfred Woyome, on how he would pay back the money, after the Attorney General’s office under the Mahama Administration, led by the former Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, discontinued a similar application.

In February 2017 however, Mr. Amidu withdrew his suit seeking an oral examination, explaining that the change of government under the New Patriotic Party under the President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo and his Attorney General, Miss Gloria Akuffo’s assurance to retrieve all judgment debts wrongfully paid to individuals Mr. Woyome in response prayed the Supreme Court to stay proceedings on the oral examination since he had filed for a review on the case.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Lawyer downplays Amidu’s appointment as Special Prosecutor appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Describing Mr. Amidu’s apparent abusive words as being as “high as [Mount] Afadjato”, Ablakwa in a recent Facebook post said: “…I shall bear no grudge towards you, and I pray that the good Lord will never permit what you have subjected me to ever befall your children whom you describe as my peers.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”XQNr2EVOuQr8US1gTHWyAist0WtJj8oN”]Mr. Amidu, a former Attorney General in an article chastised Ablakwa for ostensibly insulting him in an article titled “Martin Amidu’s ‘Hate Agenda,” when he criticized former president John Mahama who was an international observer during the Kenyan election which was subsequently annulled by that country’s Supreme Court.

The former Attorney General did not mince words at all in taking Ablakwa to the cleaners in his five-page publication. But Ablakwa denied writing any such article.

Mr. Amidu then replied him saying that Ablakwa hid behind a pseudonym and published the articles, a claim Mr. Ablakwa rejected.

“The stark reality however, is that no matter the preponderance of insults and defamatory name calling heaped on me as high as Afadjato, as it pleases you sir; from my being cursed, uncouth, uncultured, dishonourable and now a Goebbelian endemic liar. It cannot change the sacrosanct fact that Andrews Krow is neither a literary creation nor a surrogate, but an NDC communicator well known to the rank and file of the NDC for many years and who has publicly and boldly owned up to the articles that formed the unjustified basis for your unabated atrocious attacks on me,” Ablakwa added.

Andrew Krow, the supposed author of the article and an NDC activist subsequently owned up.

Below is Ablakwa’s last Facebook post:

I have become aware of yet another publication from the Hon. Martin A.B.K. Amidu under the caption: “Stop lying in God’s name Hon. Ablakwa” in which he compares me to Paul Joseph Goebbels and refers to me as an endemic liar insisting that Andrews Krow (aka Ohenenana Obonti Krow) is my “long dependent pseudonym.”

The stark reality however, is that no matter the preponderance of insults and defamatory name calling heaped on me as high as Afadjato, as it pleases you sir; from my being cursed, uncouth, uncultured, dishonourable and now a Goebbelian endemic liar. It cannot change the sacrosanct fact that Andrews Krow is neither a literary creation nor a surrogate but an NDC communicator well known to the rank and file of the NDC for many years and who has publicly and boldly owned up to the articles that formed the unjustified basis for your unabated atrocious attacks on me.

Respectfully, despite the obvious fact that you got it totally wrong in launching an unwarranted and unprovoked pernicious attack on my person, you have chosen to continue to use me as a convenient punching bag for even more high velocity abuse.

This notwithstanding, I shall bear no grudge towards you, and I pray that the good Lord will never permit what you have subjected me to to ever befall your children whom you describe as my peers.

May I take this opportunity, while expressing my appreciation, appeal to my beloved constituents in North Tongu, the NDC in the Volta Region and other well meaning party members across the country who jumped to my defence to hold their horses and reserve all energies for the party reorganization task that lies ahead of us.

It is time to renew our confidence in Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord shall fight for us and we shall hold our peace.”

Truth has triumphed!

God bless you all.

I shall write no more on this matter.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP)

–

By: citifmonilne.com/Ghana

The post Amidu’s insults high as ‘Afadjato’; but I won’t begrudge him – Ablakwa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amidu, a former Attorney General in his recent epistle chastised Ablakwa for ostensibly insulting him in an article titled “Martin Amidu’s ‘Hate Agenda,” when he criticized former president John Mahama who was an international observer during the Kenyan election which was subsequently annulled by that country’s Supreme Court.

[contextly_sidebar id=”gShKs0fVRvCj4hnnaJkAyH0lgyEOnz2k”]The former Attorney General did not mince words at all in taking Ablakwa to the cleaners in his five-page publication.

Mr. Ablakwa however rejected the accusations saying “I state for the record and in true conscience before God and man that I have authored no article on Hon. Martin A.B.K. Amidu.”

“I have taken the effort to Google search the said article which I am accused of writing and found the article: ‘Martin Amidu’s ‘Hate Agenda’…’ rather published in the name of Ohenenana Obonti Krow on ghananewsonline.com.gh dated September 4, 2017,” Mr. Ablakwa said in a statement.

But Mr. Amidu in his response insisted that, the MP hid behind a pseudonym and published the said article.

“Hon. Ablakwa is fast learning the art of covert operations and deniability in international relations, intelligence, and security. Unfortunately, he left too many foot prints that have exposed him and convince me with the precision of mathematics that he was the author of the two articles,” Mr. Amidu added.

citifmonline.com checks

Earlier checks by citifmonline.com’s showed that ghananewsonline.com.gh did publish the said article, titled “Martin Amidu’s “Hate Agenda”—His Outstanding Disrespect For Mahama, The NDC And The Judiciary Is Astounding” on September 4, 2017 with Ohenenana Obonti Krow being the author.

Modernghana.com on the other hand, posted the same article the following day, September 5, 2017,  this time with the author’s name being Andrews Krow.

It is thus unclear why the same article had two different but similar names, something that could perhaps give credence to Mr. Amidu’s claims that the real author may be hiding his real identity.

Sources at modernghana.com also told citifmonline.com that, they have not published any article from the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

However, modernghana.com does not know in person this columnist, to ascertain whether or not he’s who he portrays himself to be or that he could be someone else.

They confirmed that the writer is a supporter of the NDC and a known columnist on their website.

Ablakwa being mischievous

Meanwhile, Martin Amidu said his investigation points to the fact that the article was authored by Ablakwa and further accused him of being mischievous.

“I cannot from my investigations before I wrote my article accept his mischievous denial of the authorship of one of the articles or any of them written insultingly against me.”

“Andrew Krow is the time dependent pseudonym of Okudzeto Ablakwa when his articles appear on Modern Ghana. This is the only reason why Ablakwa’s article “On Developments In Kenya…” which appeared on myjoyonline on 4^th September 2017 under his real name and Parliamentary rank appeared on Modern Ghana on the same day under his pseudonym Andrew Krow except that he forgot to delete his real name and Parliamentary rank at the tail end of the article,” Amidu added.

Below is Martin Amidu’s latest response

ABLAKWA’S MISCHIEVIOUS DENIAL OF INSULTING MARTIN AMIDU: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU 

I have read Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s post on his Facebook wall in which he denies authorship of only one of the articles: “Martin Amidu’s ‘Hate Agenda’…” on Modern Ghana of 5^th September 2017 and extends to me his best wishes and God’s blessings.

Hon. Ablakwa is a son who must be put right when he goes wrong. I cannot therefore refuse to accept his greetings and well wishes as that would be taboo in northern custom and tradition.

While I am ready to over-look this incident completely after calling him to order as a father should do, I cannot from my investigations before I wrote my article accept his mischievous denial of the authorship of one of the articles or any of them written insultingly against me.

Andrew Krow is the time dependent pseudonym of Okudzeto Ablakwa when his articles appear on Modern Ghana. This is the only reason why Ablakwa’s article “On Developments In Kenyan…” which appeared on myjoyonline on 4^th September 2017 under his real name and Parliamentary rank appeared on Modern Ghana on the same day under his pseudonym Andrew Krow except that he forgot to delete his real name and Parliamentary rank at the tail end of the article.

Ablakwa’s article: “Martin Amidu, Is He A Contrarian,…” on Modern Ghana was also authored under his pseudonym Andrew Krow which he used to author “On the Developments In Kenya…” on the same website. It was under the same pseudonym that he authored “Martin Amidu And His ‘Hate Agenda’…” on the same website.  It could not be by coincidence that Ablakwa now seeks to escape through a side door with the excuse that one Ohenenana Obonti Krow authored “Martin Amidu And His ‘Hate Agenda’…” on ghananewsonline.com.gh on 4^th September 2017 but forgets that the same article on Modern Ghana the same day was under Ablakwa’s pseudonym of Andrew Krow.

Hon. Ablakwa is fast learning the art of covert operations and deniability in international relations, intelligence, and security. Unfortunately, he left too many foot prints that have exposed him and convince me with the precision of mathematics that he was the author of the two articles.

I would rather wish to believe that Hon. Ablakwa’s partial denial signals a new beginning conveyed in the tone of the mischievous denial. I am too intelligent to accept the mischief that somebody else wrote the articles to knock our heads together.

Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, I wish you well and God’s guidance in this new beginning your message to me conveys.

Martin A. B. K. Amidu

(Citizen Vigilance for Justice)

12^th September 2017

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Mischievous’ Ablakwa insulted me using a pseudonym – Amidu insists appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amidu made the comments in his latest epistle chastising Mr. Ablakwa whom he said attacked him in an article after he [Martin Amidu] criticized former President John Mahama, who was an international observer during the Kenyan election which was subsequently annulled by that country’s Supreme Court.

“I was astounded to read a feature article by dishonourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa entitled ‘Martin Amidu’s ‘Hate Agenda’ …on 5th September 2017 in which he opens with his conduct of restraining himself from commenting on my deliberate attacks on the former President and the NDC because of his respect for elders in the NDC and the party in general.”

“Okudzeto Ablakwa is the person whom while claiming to be entitled to the title Honourable Deputy Minister at age 28 years without having done any public service in his life has made himself notorious for insulting everybody old enough to be his father and other elders including former President Rawlings and former President Kuffuor. But Okudzeto Ablakwa chose to give the impression in his feature article devoted to insulting me with reckless abandon that he respects elders, at least in the NDC, and excuses his attacks on me for exercising my right to free speech in congratulating the Kenyan Supreme Court for the Court’s decision annulling the 8th August 2017 elections on the flimsy ground that I had attacked ‘the former President’ whom I believe is supposedly dumb figuratively and therefore unable to speak for himself,” he added in the article.

Below is Martin Amidu’s full article:

OKUDZETO ABLAKWA IS UNCOUTH AND UNCULTURED IN INSULTING ELDERS: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU

I was astounded to read a feature article by Dishonourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa entitled ‘Martin Amidu’s “Hate Agenda” -….’ on the Modern Ghana website on 5^th September 2017 in which he opens with his conduct of restraining himself from commenting on my deliberate attacks on the former President and the NDC because of his respect for elders in the NDC and the party in general.

Okudzeto Ablakwa is the person whom while claiming to be entitled to the title Honourable Deputy Minister at age 28 years without having done any public service in his life has made himself notorious for insulting everybody old enough to be his father and other elders including former President Rawlings and former President Kuffuor. But Okudzeto Ablakwa chose to give the impression in his feature article devoted to insulting me with reckless abandon that he respects elders, at least in the NDC, and excuses his attacks on me for exercising my right to free speech in congratulating the Kenyan Supreme Court for the Court’s decision annulling the 8^th August 2017 elections on the flimsy ground that I had attacked “the former President” whom I believe is supposedly dumb figuratively and therefore unable to speak for himself.

My initial reaction was to respond extensively to his article in which he deliberately twists facts to satisfy his warped imagination like a person high on something. But I was dissuaded from doing so when I read two other feature articles on the Modern Ghana website of that day and I realized that his insults and condemnation of my article congratulating the Kenyan Supreme Court and questioning the integrity of John Dramani Mahama to accept to be an observer in an election in which the whole world knew that the incumbent President in that election is his personal friend, had been answered by two more mature contributors. The two matured feature articles I am referring to are: “Uhuru Mahama Exposed In Kenya’s August 8 Elections Scam – Parts 5 Okudzeto Ablakwa’s Farcical Defence of Mr. Mahama”, and “What Selfless Judges Can Do In Africa”.

Truth be told, no person with integrity will accept to preside over an impartial tribunal or body to determine the transparency and fairness of any national election in which his bosom friend is an incumbent President participant. Okudzeto’s mentor, John Dramani Mahama, who elevated him to Deputy Minister of Education amidst protest from the public, should simply have recused himself from the Commonwealth Observer Team as a mark of honour but he did not do so as proof that he has never had any honour – period! Sycophant and lackey Okudzeto Ablakwa blames me for his former President’s lack of simple and elementary candour and decency.

Incidentally, I did not know that Okudzeto Ablakwa had written an earlier article titled: “”On Developments in Kenya And Why The Vicious Attacks on Former President John Mahama Are Most Unfair” published on Modern Ghana on 4^th September 2017, defending his mentor. It was after I read this earlier article that I realized that my reasoned article congratulating the Kenyan Supreme Court had nullified the spurious arguments he had made in defence of John Mahama’s misjudgment or lack of it: hence his vitriolic attacks on me on the 5^th September 2017 feature article.

Okudzeto Ablakwa in his usual insulting style of writing did not limit himself to my congratulation of the Kenyan Supreme Court and contextual matters related to it but digressed into seeking sympathy from the judiciary by questioning my moral character as a good lawyer. I can only tell Okudzeto Ablakwa that even though as a crook he perceives me not to be a lawyer of any good moral character the PNDC and NDC kept me as their Deputy Attorney General for upwards of twelve years, and I was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1999 only for me to decline the nomination on personal grounds. Former Supreme Court Justice and later Speaker of Parliament, Mrs. Bamford-Addo, and Mr. Justice Atuguba who is still on the Supreme Court bench can confirm this as they were asked by the then Chief Justice Isaac Kobina Abban who had nominated me to persuaded me to accept it.

Okudzeto Ablakwa also questioned why I had not followed up on my previous assertions that Anas Amereyaw Anas was a covert Government agent whom the Mahama Government had instructed to suppress his parliamentary corruption investigative video clip in order to reduce the public confidence only in the judiciary. I was not against the exposure of judicial corruption. I was nauseated by the fact that any genuine anti-corruption campaigner will hold a service passport from the Government and agree to suppress the results of investigative work against another organ of Government simply because his principals instructed him to do so. I could not file any processes against the Government and Anas Amereyaw Anas because some of the judges who were accused of corruption were challenging the allegations against them in various courts including the Supreme Court.

I was not stupid not to understand that if I commenced any action in the Supreme Court while those cases were still pending the ignorant public may think I was siding with the judges accused of corruption against Anas Aremeyaw Anas which would not have been the case. As long as those judges continue with their cases in court, experience and tactical considerations have urged me to stay my hands in the matter. I was called to the Bar almost two good years before Okudzeto Ablakwa was born on 11^th August 1980 and I cannot therefore make the infantile mistakes he wished I should have made by following up on my allegations when the other cases are still pending. I may yet be proved right in the future when no corruption cases in the judges corruption cases are pending before the courts or when this Government decides to investigate my allegations against the John Mahama Government in the use of unconstitutional covert agents during his administration.

Okudzeto Ablakwa also stupidly questions why as a Plaintiff/Applicant spending my own resources to try to retrieve the over GHC51 million Woyome and Mills/ Mahama Government loot of the national purse, I should cut my losses by withdrawing my application to examine the principal looter, Woyome, in the face of undue delays by the Court to dispose of the matter and the rising cost to me personally so that the new Government would continue with that endeavor as it had promised. Only an infantile lawyer like Okudzeto Ablakwa would refuse to cut his losses as I did when he knows that Governments in Ghana do not pay for any fees associated with filing and prosecuting civil cases except legal costs, damages, and other awards. I am still the Plaintiff in the Woyome case who is at liberty to go back to the Court should I not be satisfied with the handling of the execution process of the judgment in my favour.

On 6^th September 2017 Citi FM fished out my birthday, called to congratulate me, and took advantage of the occasion to have a short interview with me. It was after this interview in which I had responded to questions such as whether I am a contrarian, or a traitor to the NDC that I discovered that Okudzeto Ablakwa had written another feature article insulting me on 5^th September 2017 entitled: “Martin Amidu, Is He A Contrarian, A Traitor, Or An Anti-Corruption Crusader…” on Modern Ghana. Without having read his second article, I had answered his childlike queries in the Citi FM interview which any interested reader may fish out, listen to, or read.

Interestingly, Okudzeto Ablakwa in his usually disingenuous and dishonourable fashion was repeating in that article disagreement he had had with me previously to which I had responded without even having the courtesy of informing his readers about my previous responses. All my responses are on my website, martinamidu.com or Martin Amidu Speaks some of which are under the headings:  “Why Martin Amidu Is Not Using Government Or Party Channels For His Advocacy For Accountability And Transparency” dated 29^th May 2012; “Fighting Graft And Corruption Under The National Democratic Governments Of Ghana” dated 3^rd November 2013; On Galloppers, Settlements And The Hallowed Traditions Of The Office Of The Attorney General” dated 10^th July 2012; and “Defending Citizens’ Rights And Freedoms From Unconstitutional Conduct By Government And Its Unlawful Covert Agent” dated 11^th November 2015: and many others.

Unlike Okudzeto Ablakwa who conveys the impression in his articles that Constitutionalism, democracy and the rule of law mandate that I should have protected the crimes and graft I exposed simply because of membership of a political party, I take the right and correct view that the Constitution enjoins every citizen to up hold and defend it by exposing any activity of any person or group of persons who abuse Article 55 on political parties for criminal purposes. My duty to the 1992 Constitution overrides any loyalty to any political party the moment it becomes an enterprise to undermine the Constitution through any form of corruption or graft, including such unconstitutional conducts as those John Mahama and Okudzeto Ablakwa committed when they were in office as a Government.

And yet, Okudzeto Ablakwa shamelessly writes that citizens should disregard their constitutional obligations and protect mafia clubs in political parties when they are acting criminally and unconstitutionally. I believe the reason for Okudzeto Ablakwa’s warped reading of the Constitution is an upbringing in which he was not taught to respect his own parents let alone others persons standing in the position of his parents as elders. When a child is cursed by a father who brought him up from age three because of disrespect and insults to him the child grows up to become the type of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa: with sharp teeth, both figuratively and physically and a scourge on all elders of the whole Ghanaian society except those who feed his greedy political stomach.

This is how it came about that on or around 25^th January 2011 when Okudzeto Ablakwa was 30 years old and married, his adopted father, Benet Ablakwa, who assumed legal responsibility for his upbringing since age 3 “walked into the offices of Daily Guide on Friday January 21, 2011 swearing that Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was too ungrateful to occupy a ministerial position and it would be in the interest of the country if he was relieved of his post”. His legal father who was in the company of his sister, Sally Ablakwa added that: “Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa now treated him like a piece of rag” the Daily Guide recounted. Just go to Ghana Web news archives of 25^th January 2011 to read the full story about what his own father said about his obnoxious character.

Ambassador Tony Aidoo had occasion to descend on this same Okudzeto Ablakwa for his disrespect for elders and his activities of undermining his senior colleagues in Government in a discussion at which Okudzeto Ablakwa himself was present and which is reported on Modern Ghana of 23^rd July 2012. Okudzeto Ablakwa undermined his Minister of Information who was old enough to be his father by assuming the right to address a press conference as a Deputy Minister while the Minister sat by.

I also had occasion to condemn his uncouth and uncultured manners and character of insulting and undermining elders and his superiors when he attempted to corruptly induce me to approve the payment of a US$1.3million alleged judgment debt to Isofoton SA in 2011 – see “People Are fed Up With Ablakwa’s ‘Lies’”, Modern Ghana 13^th July 2012. The Isofoton case is a case in which the Supreme Court was later give judgment in my favour in Amidu (No. 2) v Attorney General, Isofoton SA & Forson (No. 1) [2013-2014] SCGLR 167. The reader should imagine the US$1.3million loss to the national purse which Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa sought corruptly to get me approve for payment to Isofoton, a foreign company, as the Attorney General. The approval of the corrupting request would have benefitted Okudzeto Ablakwa personally but for my refusal to do so. The reader should now make up his mind whether Okudzeto Ablakwa’s recent criticism of me are not a vendetta for my past exposure of his corrupt conduct in the name of being a surrogate for his mentor, the former President.

It is a shame that nobody took the trouble to bring the bad character of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to the attention of the General Legal Council and thus enabled him to be enrolled on the Roll of Lawyers by default. May be I was right not to take out the yearly licence to practice as a private legal practitioner since 2006, particularly because of charlatans of the nature of Okudzeto Ablakwa and his likes now admitted to practice in the legal profession for lack of prior challenge to character.

Writing on “The Politics Of Insults” in a feature article on Modern Ghana on 11^th August 2010, one author discussing persons who liked using insulting language in the media singled out Okudzeto Ablakwa for criticism as follows:

“While many people here are at fault, I must with great reluctance, single out Okudzeto Ablakwa. Since getting into government the young man has changed – or revealed his true colours.

It seems there is no elder he is not eager to insult. He turns every opportunity to respond to a substantive issue into an insult of others, regardless of their age.

Are there no elders in his government who can counsel him to mind his words? Does he want to be remembered as the young man who took pleasure in insulting his elders?”

It is time Ghanaians told Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa that: “You have insulted your parents and other elders enough. It is time to grow up now that you are married with children.” The last of my three children who was born on 31^st December 1982 now has two children and is in Okudzeto Ablakwa’s peer group. My son is 5 good years older than you not to speak of my first daughter. Your former Minister, Mohammed Ayariga is also my son by our custom – ask him. Kindly, therefore, learn to engage in reasoned and matured arguments in your public discourses instead of insults. A word to the wise they say is enough or as we from the North from where you have wisely chosen a wife from a respected and good family like putting it – a word to the wise is in the North.

Martin A. B. K. Amidu

(Citizens Vigilance for Justice)

11^th September 2017

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Martin Amidu turns heat on Okudzeto Ablakwa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The influence of his parents, both illiterate, sowed the seeds that currently see him at odds with elements within the National Democratic Congress (NDC), of which he is a founding member.

[contextly_sidebar id=”eVMKhUQJrc040D95hDC5aobs5gB4OoiR”]Reflecting on his life on the Citi Breakfast Show as he turns 66, Mr. Amidu noted how the circumstances of his parents and their sacrifices set him on his current path.

“I have since secondary school dedicated my life for always speaking for the voiceless… that is because of the background of my parents and how they suffered to see me and my elder brother through school.”

This zeal, that has seen him  earn the name citizen vigilante, started from his secondary education at the Commercial Business Institute in Tamale, where he was part of a socialist group.

He recalled that “he has always spoken for the voiceless,” and his eventual transition into governance was still with the common man in mind.

“I didn’t come into government as a politician. When I finished law school, my advocacy was for the ordinary person who hadn’t been to school and who I felt was being cheated… so right from day one, I have been a sort of vigilante.”

“My family, my children… they have suffered because I took to trying to help the country than my family so their education and others suffered. My mind was focused on the nation and paying back my parents foresight,” he added.

Joining the revolution

Months after the Provisional National Defence Council’s (PNDC) December 31, 1981, revolution, Mr. Amidu joined Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings’ side, and he noted that it was a contrarian disposition that compelled the former President to spearhead the 31^st December revolution.

“It [the revolution] was a call to help our fellow human beings  in the country which we felt were being taken for granted,” he stated.

Mr. Amidu followed in this contrarian stance to government, noting that,”I didn’t come to do politics. I came for the revolution because I believed in an ideal which I had been brought up in. Politics was a secondary matter when we were moving from the revolutionary stage into democratic rule.”

“I am consistent as a contrarian because I remain still on the side of President Rawlings because that is our character, that is our being, and you can’t let me leave what brought me into politics to do the bidding of others, particularly when it is against the constitution I helped to draft, when it’s against the principles that brought me into politics and deprived my family of any benefit, and when it is against the interest of the nation.”

It is this contrarian position that has seen Mr. Amidu and Jerry Rawlings consistently criticize the current incarnation of the NDC for straying from the party’s original values. He expressed hope that his uncompromising stance on the party will eventually correct the ills within.

“I think that as time goes on, people will begin to appreciate that we are not just criticizing for criticizing sake. I want us to come together, chart the proper course, go back to our fundamental values and then get the people to support us to go back and see if we can complete the agenda we started,” he stated.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Martin Amidu@66: ‘I have always been a contrarian’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amidu, who is a foundational member of the NDC, is noted as being a vehement critic of the party and its leadership, to the point of some attributing the party’s defeat in the 2016 polls to his scrutiny.

[contextly_sidebar id=”w4Va1Cogbw8Ak5NqhD72wEick3CZiPGr”]Some elements within the NDC have singled him and former President Jerry Rawlings’ criticism of the party, which they said fueled the public perception that it is corrupt.

But Mr. Amidu, speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show maintained that he would never turn a blind eye to the wrongs within the NDC.

“I am determined not to betray those with whom I started in 1981. I am prepared to go down with them in the spirit with which we started,” he avowed.

For him, this spirit is ingrained in the Constitution of the NDC so “to say that the NDC is beyond redemption, I think, is wrong… It is just that on the way, there were missteps.”

These missteps could be attributed to the leadership of the party, according to Mr. Amidu, who noted that the current group that has taken over the party  “does not subscribe to the fundamental and foundational ideals [of the party]. They are paying lip service to it.”

“The problem between them and me, and President Rawlings is that we cannot change. We are still into those fundamental ideals,” he added.

He expressed hope that his scrutiny of the party will eventually bear fruit and nudge the NDC in the direction of its fundamental values.

“I think that as time goes on, people will begin to appreciate that we are not just criticizing for criticizing sake. I want us to come together, chart the proper course, go back to our fundamental values and then get the people to support us to go back and see if we can complete the agenda we started.”

Since Mr. Amidu entered politics, he has served at the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry; the Interior and Justice Ministries respectively, and served as the Attorney-General of Ghana.

Ahead of the elections in 2000, Mr. Martin Amidu, who was a deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General, was picked as running mate to then NDC Flagbearer, the late John Evans Atta Mills.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post There’s still hope for NDC’s revival – Amidu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.