The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has revealed that he is not a close confidant or friend of the Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo despite his overt campaign for the AG who has been subjected to attacks to be left alone in the light of the recent GETFund revelations which seems to implicate some top government officials.
Amidu’s campaign for the protection of the Auditor General has led to allusions that the two anti-corruption crusaders are close pals, but the Special Prosecutor in denying such reports said he doesn’t even know exactly where the Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelovo lives.
He indicated that prior to his appointment as Special Prosecutor he had never met the Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo and he does not know him personally.
Asked why he was showing much concern for the Auditor General who has been widely castigated by some government appointees for his role in compiling a list of beneficiaries of GETFund scholarship in previous years Martin Amidu said, “Some people maliciously say he is my friend. I don’t even know Domelevo’s house, I never met him until I was appointed as special prosecutor. I don’t know him...”
But he noted however that, he was showing concern because it was in the interest of the nation and also falls within his jurisdiction to be concerned about corruption-related activities among public officials.
“I’m concerned about the attack on heads of prosecutorial agencies, what we call the integrity institutions. Whether it is CHRAJ or police, anytime they do anything which one of the divides or several divides feels is not in their interest, they politicize it. You can’t have a nation which claims to fight corruption when deep down you think only your opponent must be caught and you shouldn’t be caught…” Mr Amidu argued.
Albeit reports of several backlashes from sections of the public, the Special Prosecutor remains steadfast in his allegiance to supporting anti-corruption campaigners.
He further advised officials implicated in the scandal to direct their anger to the Audit Service and not directly to the Auditor General as a person.
Martin Amidu was speaking in an interview with Citi FM’s Umaru Sanda.
This, however, will not be the first time the Special Prosecutor has publicly declared his support for the Auditor General.
The two publicly declared their support for each other in their fight against corruption in a joint press briefing in July 2018 which was to announce the commencement of a special audit of the government payroll.
"My appointment and Mr Domelovo working as the Auditor General has brought two likeminded people together. We have decided that when auditors detect any infractions while working on documents from any of the government ministries, departments and agencies, they should urgently report these practices to the Special Prosecutor for us to begin investigations, take statements and build prosecution documents so that by the time the report is ready, the offender would be lined up to face the law," the Special Prosecutor is quoted to have said then.
The two since then, remain the main faces behind Ghana’s corruption fight but their actions have been hit with several backlashes from government appointees who believe they are up to some political mischief.
While some political elements have tagged the Auditor-General as a dissident planted by the erstwhile Mahama administration to stoke public disdain against the ruling government, the Special Prosecutor, on the other hand, has been lampooned about the slow pace of his prosecuting corruption cases.
Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu