“I have defended the voiceless I have not known; I have defended people who thought I was their enemies. I may not be having a smiling face, I may not be having a handsome face, but at least I have a heart that loves people, that is why I fight for the ordinary man,” he said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JqBuXqCWOndQas3O6HHH37pOg7XKOwia”]He also added that, people have said all sort of things about him, but he doesn’t blame them because “those who really know him will vouch for him any day, and the only people who will be tempted to spoil his good name, are those corrupt political leaders who cheat the nation.”

Mr. Amidu, who was responding to a question from a member of the Appointments Committee, Ursula Owusu-Ekufful, listed a number of instances in his public life where he had offered a helping hand to people who hitherto feared to appear before him because of the misconceptions they had about him.

According to him, he has remained  supportive of people both in his hometown and at his residence in Accra, where people come to him for help.

He said, as a modest man who wants to leave a legacy of having helped his country to be better, he had nothing significant to show for it, saying that he still lived a simple house.

Who is Martin Amidu?

Former Attorney-General grew up in the neighbourhood of Daduri at Bawku.

After elementary school, he gained admission to a private educational institution in Tamale housed in makeshift structures and designated as a commercial school.

Unlike many high-profile lawyers of his generation, Mr. Amidu did not attend the best of second cycle schools.

Mr Amidu graduated from the University of Ghana in 1976 with an LLB (Hons) and the Ghana Law School in 1978 with a Barrister/Solicitor at Law (BL) degree.

He also holds a Master of Arts Degree in Conflict Resolution from the Antioch University, Ohio, USA.

The former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice joined the NDC in 1992.

Political career

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.

Mr Martin Alamisi Amidu was nominated as the Special Prosecutor on January 11, 2018.

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 generally approved by Ghanaians.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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