“Parliament has not been injuncted. The mere initiation of a suit does not serve as an injunction. In the absence of that, I think Parliament is right in proceeding with the approval. In the absence of an injunction Parliament is free to proceed and they are right to do so,” she said.

Parliament on Tuesday, February 20, 2018, approved Mr. Amidu as Special Prosecutor to tackle corruption cases in the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”XZF3uw5wlkwhT8PrTvscNMkiLcOc9rjI”]The approval was done regardless of a suit filed at the Supreme Court by Deputy Minority Ranking Member on Constitutional Affairs, Dr. Dominic Ayine, who is seeking a declaration that Mr. Amidu, who is 66-years-old, cannot hold public office because he has exceeded the mandated age limit per the 1992 constitution.

Dr. Ayine prior to the approval on Tuesday further asked Parliament to put the process on hold, as his suit is still pending at the Supreme Court.

Drawing on Standing order 93(1), Dr. Ayine invited the Speaker of Parliament to rule on whether the House’s intention to approve the nominee will not be wrong pending the Supreme Court case.

But the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, ruled against Dr. Ayine’s argument thus paving the way for Amidu’s approval.

Speaking to Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku in Parliament after the approval, Gloria Akuffo, who recommended Amidu for the position, said she is hopeful the Supreme Court case will go in favour of Amidu.

“I am confident that Mr. Amidu’s appointment will be confirmed by the Supreme Court…Let’s allow the court to go into the merits and come out with its decision,” she added.

‘Too old’

Dr. Dominic Ayine who is also a former Deputy Attorney-General,  filed the suit at the Supreme Court on February 12, 2018 arguing that Mr. Amidu’s age bars him from being appointed to public office.

However, Parliament’s Appointments Committee went ahead to vet Mr. Amidu last Tuesday with the Chairman of the Committee, Joseph Osei Owusu claiming that he had not been served any injunction to prevent the committee from doing its work.

The vetting, which lasted more than seven hours saw members of committee quizzing Mr. Amidu’s plans for the Special Prosecutor’s Office and how he intends to carry out his mandate of fighting corruption.

The Appointments Committee also unanimously recommended his confirmation moments after the gruelling exercise.

–

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

The post ‘Parliament was right in approving Amidu despite suit’ – AG appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The New Crusading Guide Editor, could not hide his emotions when he jumped onto the dance floor in the studios of Accra-based Peace FM, following the news of the court’s ruling on Wednesday morning.

Kweku Baako has on various platforms insisted that, the state is not pursuing the matter aggressively enough.

Mr. Amidu filed his application last week, praying the court to allow him cross-examine Woyome following an announcement by the Attorney General that it has discontinued pursuing the matter.

Kweku Baako was joined on the dancing floor by NPP Central Regional Secretary, Kwamina Duncan, in celebration of the development.

Watch the video below:

According to the ruling by justice Anin Yeboah, the applicant has the right to do that because he personally came to court to get a judgment to have Mr. Woyome pay back the GHc51 million cash he received as judgment debt.

The judge also indicated that, the application was granted because there was no evidence of execution before the court by the AG presently. Mr. Amidu’s action followed a move by the Attorney General’s (AG) office, led by the Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, to discontinue an oral examination of Mr. Woyome, despite serving an earlier notice to do same.

The notice of discontinuance stated that “please take notice that the 1st Defendant Judgment Creditor [Attorney General] herein has this day [26th Day of October 2016] discontinued the present application to orally examine the 3rd Defendant Judgment Debtor [Alfred Agesi Woyome] with liberty to reapply.”

This forced Mr. Amidu to file the application in court, in which he even alleged that President Mahama had ordered a discontinuation of the case because Mr. Woyome had threatened to expose officials of government and the NDC who benefited from the amount.

The AG’s office arguing against Mr. Amidu’s application in court, questioned his right to examine Mr. Woyome over the matter.

Background Alfred Woyome was paid ¢51 million after he claimed that he helped Ghana to raise funds to construct stadia for purposes of hosting the CAN 2008 Nations Cup.

However an Auditor General’s report released in 2010, said the amount was paid illegally to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier.

The Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the amount, after Mr. Martin Amidu challenged the legality of the judgment debt paid the businessman, Waterville, and Isofoton.

Following delays in retrieving the money, the 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.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Kweku Baako dances over Amidu’s court victory [Video] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.