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Special Prosecutor's office "needless waste of resources" – Batidam
Batidam has challenged Nana Addo to go back and implement the anti-corruption action plan passed by the previous government.
Former Presidential Advisor on Governance and Corruption Daniel Batidam
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He said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's initial priority to deal with corruption by appointing Martin Amidu is not necessary to fight the canker in the country.
He has challenged Nana Addo to go back and implement the anti-corruption action plan passed by the previous government.
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"If President Akufo-Addo wants to still do anything about the fight against corruption, there are a number of things he still has to do," he added.
In an interview on Accra-based Class FM, the anti-corruption crusader said "The first of them is to go back to where President Mahama left off with the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Action Pan and begin to engage the multiplicity of stakeholders including public institutions, public investigative bodies.
"The BNI, CHRAJ and others were beginning to work with understanding so that they will make their investigations more effective, more efficient in order to be able to enhance the prosecutorial aspect of our fight against corruption.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu
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"So, it's not about creating offices. What President Akufo-Addo has done is a needless waste of public resources. He wants to give excuses to say: ‘Look, I'm committed, I’ve appointed a Special Prosecutor,’ but you have heard Mr Amidu himself say it is not enough to appoint him as Special Prosecutor, there are a lot of other pre-conditions including the L.I. and also the body language of people in government."
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Martin Amidu hinted that his office is in a near hopeless situation to deliver its mandate in fighting corruption.
In an article, the former Attorney General said his office has so far had "woefully inadequate" infrastructure and has been under-resourced since its establishment a year ago.
Amidu compared his situation to that of that of Acting Attorney General of the US Mathew Whitaker, insisting a lack of resources has left the Special Prosecutor's Office in an almost hopeless situation to fight corruption.
He said despite President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's sincere commitment to fighting corruption, government has done very little to support the Special Prosecutor's Office.
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According to him, the office has so far lacked the resources to adequately deliver on its mandate.
Meanwhile, the government has allocated GH¢180 million to Martin Amidu to focus on his core mandate of prosecuting corrupt public officials.
This was made known by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta when he delivered the 2019 budget to parliament on Thursday, 15 November.
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