News
Stop the attacks or I’ll defend my integrity – Martin Amidu cautions
- /home/u249204778/domains/spectator.com.gh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Martin-Amidu.jpg&description=Stop the attacks or I’ll defend my integrity – Martin Amidu cautions', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/u249204778/domains/spectator.com.gh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 72
https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Martin-Amidu.jpg&description=Stop the attacks or I’ll defend my integrity – Martin Amidu cautions', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
Former Special Prosecutor, Mr.Martin Amidu has sent a caution to government, to stop appointees attacking him, else, he will come out to defend his integrity.
Speaking in an interview with Citi FM’s Umaru Sanda Amidu, he said, the Minister of Finance, Mr.Ken Ofori-Atta was in his house on the day he was writing his report on the Agyapa royalties deal, and that he does not want to wash dirty linens in the public.
“The minister for Finance has been my friend , why will I go for him, when I was writing the report didn’t he come to this house, was he not here on the 21st October, what did I tell him, why is he churning out information about me, and budget and all that should I come out?,” he quizzed.
He further said, “Let’s stop it , and I say let’s stop it before we wash our dirty linen in public.”
“I have said that I was not going to talk to the press since my resignation. I’m being pushed by so-called responses to me which contain blatant falsehood. But I do not want anybody to blame me when I speak out and it becomes unpalatable. So, either the attacks stop or I’ll defend my integrity. It is something I won by dint of hard work from PNDC till date. So I will not allow anybody, not even the President, to pull that integrity into the mud,” he said.
“Anyone who tries to fight corruption must be aware from the beginning that corruption will fight back, and from all that is going on, corruption is fighting back and it’s demonstrating that the whole issue about fighting corruption is only rhetoric and the time of reckoning has come. And nobody should push me because if I decide to respond, I will do so without fear or favour even to the extent of losing my life for speaking the truth and defending the Constitution of Ghana.”
Responding to claims by the Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, who reportedly said Mr. Amidu had medical records from Germany which he has been concealing.
“Kennedy Agyapong is known in Ghana as someone who spews lies at any person of integrity who tries to fight corruption. So I am not surprised that he stooped that low to make accusations without any foundation.”
“I have never been to Germany on any occasion and let alone for a medical check, therefore, his allegations are false. And if he has any document to the contrary, he should produce them because my passports are available as evidence.”
Mr. Amidu further alleged that there have been threats on his life and property, saying, President Akufo-Addo should be held responsible if he is harmed.
“Now I am a private citizen and nobody can control me and I have the constitutional right to defend myself and the Constitution of Ghana as by law established. All these threats of murdering me and burning houses, I am aware…I know the persons behind it and the President will be responsible for anything that happens to me,” he told Umaru Sanda Amadu.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako Marfo, has questioned who will bear the cost of conducting presidential and parliamentary primaries following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the party’s delegate system.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Nimako Marfo said he would not immediately comment on the ruling, adding that he wanted to wait for the full details before sharing his views.
“I don’t want to comment on it now. Let’s wait,” he said.
When asked about the Supreme Court’s decision that all members in good standing should vote in party elections, he shifted attention to the financial implications of implementing the ruling.
According to him, allowing all members in good standing to vote would increase the cost of organising internal party elections.
He questioned who would pay for the expanded electoral process.
“Who is going to pay for the cost of the elections?” he asked.
When a journalist suggested that political parties would bear the cost, Mr. Nimako Marfo replied, “Let’s wait and see.”
The comments come after the Supreme Court ruled that political parties should allow all members in good standing to vote in their internal elections, a decision that is expected to expand participation but also increase the financial and logistical demands of organising presidential and parliamentary primaries.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Supreme Court of Ghana has declared the delegate system used by political parties to elect presidential and parliamentary candidates unconstitutional.
In a 5-2 majority decision delivered, the Court ruled that the long-standing system violates democratic principles and ordered all political parties to ensure every registered, card-bearing member participates in presidential and parliamentary primaries.
The ruling brings to an end decades of internal party elections conducted by a limited number of delegates.
The suit was filed by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng; veteran politician Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe; and former Minister for Lands and Forestry, Dr. Christine Amoako-Nuamah.
The plaintiffs argued that the delegate system created inequality among party members by granting voting rights to a privileged minority while excluding ordinary members in good standing.
They told the Court that restricting voting rights to delegates was inconsistent with the democratic principles enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
The Attorney-General’s Department supported the suit and urged the Court to adopt a “one member, one vote” approach.
In its submission, the State argued that political parties perform an important public function in Ghana’s democratic framework and that their internal electoral processes must reflect constitutional values of equality, participation and universal suffrage.
The Attorney-General further submitted that expanding voting rights to all registered members would strengthen accountability and deepen internal democracy within political parties.
The judgment means that going forward, presidential and parliamentary candidates will be selected by all registered members of a political party, instead of by delegates alone.
Political parties are expected to review their constitutions and structures to comply with the Court’s directive ahead of the 2028 general elections.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
