Martin Amidu
The institution of parliament has been cast in a corruption brewing factory mold by anti-corruption crusader, Mr Martin A B K Amidu. I know parliament, as one of the three arms of government, is jealous of its reputation and must at all material times protect its sanctity.
I don't have any shred of evidence to confirm the jaw dropping allegation Mr Amidu has levelled against the institution of Parliament; neither do I have any contrary claim to rubbish his assertion.
The surest way for Parliament to flip out of this startling corruption revelation is to haul Mr Amidu before the Privileges Committee to back his claims with concrete evidence. I believe, Mr Amidu himself will be more than willing to honor such invitation.
It is true that the allegation was levelled against the 5th and 6th parliament, but as we all gleaned from the outcome of the December 7 election, majority of members who served in the 5th and 6th parliament is still in Parliament. They may perpetuate same alleged heinous crimes if they are not exposed and subsequently marched out of our law making house. Parliament cannot be a convenient abode for well-dressed educated criminals.
Ghanaians deserve to know which officials of the previous government offered bribe, and which member of the previous Parliament accepted same to undertake a job he was elected to do.
These latest corruption allegations by the renowned anti-corruption crusader cannot be treated as one of the usual over exuberant jokes of a ranting mad horse. The name of our law making house has been tainted with corruption and that is very scaring.
Poor tax payers monies are squeezed from them to take care of Parliamentarians, and it will constitute another dizzy height of democratic "landguardism" if our MPs, for fear of being exposed, fail to haul Mr Amidu before its Privileges Committee. To Mr Amidu, I urge him to make further moves to prove these rib cracking allegations. Nobody forced him to make these allegations. He has to prove it even if Parliament decides not to invite you. This is not the first time corruption allegations against the legislature have been made. Hons PC Appiah Ofori and Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin have in the past made similar allegations. Their colleagues in parliament, for reasons best known to them, treated them with kid gloves.
When Black Rasta made his "wee smoking" allegation, Parliamentarians were up in arms and invited him to the House. He was humiliated and made to retract and apologize because he was unable to substantiate his allegation. Same treatment was visited on Prof Dodoo.
What could be more damaging and denigrating of our law making House than corruption allegation leveled against it? When ace investigative Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, came up with his expose, the legislature, another arm of government, came under severe censor from the public. At the end, some judges were fired.
We cannot talk about corruption in government (executive) and judiciary without talking about same in the legislature. The laws of this country have in the past been cast wide to drag officials of the executive and judiciary to jail, and sometimes vacate their positions. The same courtesy, however costly and painful, must be extended to the legislature.
Now that we have one bold soul in the caliber of Mr Amidu coming out with these allegations, he must be put to strict proof so we can deal with our legislators. Like I said, our legislators can only wash themselves off this corruption dirt if Mr Amidu is invited to the Privileges Committee to back his words with evidence. Parliamentarians should not confirm my fears that Mr Amidu may end up exposing them so they will turn blind eyes to his allegations. Let the political Hallelujah boys and girls shout Amen if they support this call. NB: No part of this write-up should be plagiarized.
Amos Blessing Amorse [email protected] Asabaham-Accra