Indexing government scandals one at a time
The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has resigned from his position three years after he was appointed by President Akufo-Addo over a dispute surrounding a planned $500 million initial public offering (IPO) of gold royalty fund Agyapa Royalties in London, which his office has said was open to corruption.
Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu said in a report on Oct. 15 that the appointment of the advisors to the transaction was untransparent and raised the possibility of “bid rigging” and “illicit financial flows”, findings that he says were not acted on. No criminal charges have been filed in the matter.
Mr Amidu accused President Akufo-Addo of trying to direct him on how to proceed with the corruption risk assessment the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) had conducted on the Agyapa Deal.
According to him, President Akufo-Addo had allegedly tried to convince him to take the response of the Finance Minister to the corruption risk assessment, which he refused, saying “that would have compromised my independence as the SP”.
Again, Mr Amidu said he refused to shelve the report after the President had allegedly told him to do so to enable him (the President) to “handle the matter”.
Nov. 16, 2020
References: