Martin Amidu has warned former President John Dramani Mahama that he should not drag the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) into partisan politics. He observed that John Mahama and the NDC in mentioning the OSP seek “to demonstrate their determination to prevent and fight corruption as a reason why the electorate must consider them as the candidate of choice for the upcoming elections”. According to Amidu, he finds such statements as needless within the objects, mandate and functions granted to his office under the OSP Act 2017 (Act 959). In a statement copied to GhanaWeb, Martin Amidu noted, “These pronouncements constitute interferences with, and attempts to influence the independent mandate of this Office to investigate, and prosecute certain electoral offences apportioned to this Office under the law which constitutes corruption and corruption-related offences as clearly stated in Section 79 of Act 959,” He added, “Any Ghanaian worthy of putting himself forward as presidential candidate for the upcoming elections should know the content of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) by now.” Amidu further added, “He [John Mahama] must know by now that under section 4 of Act 959, except as otherwise provided for in the 1992 Constitution, the Office is not subject to the direction or control of a person or an authority in the performance of the functions of the Office even when the Office acts upon the authority of the Attorney-General to initiate and conduct the prosecution of corruption and corruption-related offences.” Amidu’s statement is in reaction to John Mahama’s campaign promise that if elected President of Ghana, he will not interfere with the work of the Special Prosecutor. “If we come [into office], we’ll leave the Office of the Special Prosecutor to work freely, we will maintain it because it was established by Parliament. And the point is I will warn my appointees against messing with him [Amidu] because, if he gets hold of any of them for corruption, I cannot intervene. And that should be the attitude of a President towards corruption,” Mahama said on Adom FM this week. Political interference is rampant in Ghana, hence some pundits have observed that Amidu’s reaction is unnecessary. Read Martin Amidu’s statement below. Ghanaweb Please kindly contact apexnewsgh.com on apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications
57% of Ghanaians satisfied with Akufo-Addo’s performance – IEA Polls
At least 57% of Ghanaians have given thumbs up to the Akufo-Addo administration in a poll conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The Twitter-based poll by the think-tank gauged how Ghanaians were satisfied with the performance of President Akufo-Addo over the past three-and-a-half years. IEA Ghana on the 16th of October 2020, administered a poll on its Twitter Handle @IEAGhana and asked as follows, “how satisfied are you with the performance of the current government over the past 4 years”. Respondents had four options to choose from, namely; “Very satisfied, Satisfied, Dissatisfied, and Very dissatisfied”. Over all, 5,625 people voted according to the final results of the poll. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of the respondents who voted chose “Very Satisfied”. Six percent (6%) settled on “Satisfied”, seven percent (7%) opted for “Dissatisfied” and twenty-nine percent (29%) chose “Very dissatisfied”. Implications of the Polls The results of the poll according to some social and political commentators who have expressed their opinions about the development seem to suggest that the flagship programmes of government such as the free SHS, Planting for food and jobs, one district, one factory, one village, one dam among others have caught on well with the Ghanaian people. Additionally, some comments also point to the fact that the Ghanaian people appear to be happy about the level of leadership shown by President Akufo-Addo in the fight against the novel corona virus, COVID-19. With forty-nine (49) days to election 2020 (7 weeks), if the IEA polls is anything to go by, there is clear indication that the Ghanaian people have made up their mind to maintain President Akufo-Addo in office. Daily Mail GH Please kindly contact Apexnewsgh.com on Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications









