The Board Chair of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Linda Ofori Kwafo says news of Martin Amidu’s resignation came as a surprise to the board as it was not aware of any such move being considered by the former Special Prosecutor.
Linda Ofori Kwafo said she is uncertain if the board could have intervened and averted his resignation assuming they were made aware of his resignation plans.
She said the board was also not aware of some of the concerns Mr. Amidu raised in his resignation letter to the President.
Martin Amidu on Monday, November 16, 2020, resigned unexpectedly from office as the country’s first Special Prosecutor.
Among other things, he cited interference by the government in his work although he is supposed to be independent and also the death of former President Jerry John Rawlings who to him, was a source of protection from the threats on his life after conducting a corruption risk assessment on the controversial Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal.
The development has brought attention to the board of the Office of the Special Prosecutor with some saying it has questions to answer about some of the claims Martin Amidu made but the Chair of the Board, Linda Ofori Kwafo says while the board was aware of some of the issues, others were unbeknownst to them.
“If you take a closer look at the letter of the SP, you will realize that the board was not copied. Some of the challenges that have been mentioned as the basis, we are aware of it but it came as a surprise to me as the chair and also the board as a whole.”
She added that “We can’t tell whether we would have been able to prevent it from happening. He has cited the reasons for his resignation and some of them are related to latest developments that have not come to the attention of the board because, as a result of COVID, we may not have met to be able to discuss such matters.”
Meanwhile, Mrs. Ofori Kwafo, who is also the Executive Director of anti-corruption CSO, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) says the Deputy Special Prosecutor, Cynthia Lamptey will in the meantime serve as the acting Special Prosecutor.
