Martin Amidu
Special
Prosecutor Martin Amidu has said categorically that his office does not have
the mandate to investigate the ongoing brouhaha surrounding the Power
Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited concession which has been suspended
by the government.
He
said people who should know better are trying to create the impression that the
Office of the Special Prosecutor has the powers to enter into the PDS issue. He
pointed out that he has “very limited jurisdiction apportioned to the Office of
the Special Prosecutor under Section 79 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor
Act, 2017 (Act 959)” in matters such as the current PDS case.
He
said, “The Office of the Special Prosecutor cannot go outside its remit unless
Section 79 of Act 959 which deliberately narrowly defines corruption and
corruption-related offences is amended to make it consistent with international
conventions on corruption, which Ghana has voluntarily ratified and to which it
is a party.”
Initial Announcement
On
Tuesday, 30th July 2019 through the Ministry of Finance and the Electricity
Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited, the government announced the suspension of the
concession agreement with the PDS and said it was initiating an enquiry into
the circumstances leading to the non-fulfillment of conditions precedent to the
full operationalization of the agreement by the PDS.
The
issue has since generated heated political debate on whether the entire deal
borders on fraud or breaches of the agreement.
The
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in particular is even calling for
immediate cancellation of the concession agreement but the government is
adamant and wants the team doing the enquiry to submit its report within 30
days for the next line of action to be taken.
Misplaced Calls
In
a response to the numerous ‘misplaced’ calls for his office to investigate the
PDS deal, the Special Prosecutor said in an article that there is public
perception that the Office of the Special Prosecutor can investigate and
prosecute any criminal offence under the laws of Ghana.
“Granted
that more than 65% of the population may not be able to read and properly
understand the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, the problem is compounded
when persons, civil society and political organizations which ought to know
better choose to petition or complain to the office on matters which have
nothing to do with corruption and corruption-related offences,” he complained.
Cheap Political Points
He
added that “worse of all, these enlightened persons and organizations appear to
be petitioning the office more for media publicity and political point scoring
than pursuing genuine complaints against adversaries.”
He
said their modus operandi is to write a letter, petition or complaint, have it
published in the media long before submitting or posting the complaint to the
office, adding “the object of such persons and organizations is not to seek a
fair and impartial investigation and prosecution but to do maximum damage to
perceived political opponents even before they can be investigated.”
He described their actions as “a type of mob lynching which no reasonable and impartial law enforcement agency should be used for,” adding “unfortunately, the media aids in such cheap publicity seeking by just publishing the complaint without satisfying itself whether the petition really concerns a corruption and corruption-related offence.”
By Melvin Tarlue
The post I Can’t Probe PDS -Amidu appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
