By Papis Demba
The Minority in Ghana’s legislature is likely to boycott the approval of President Akufo Addo’s candidate for Special Prosecutor. This is despite overwhelming approval from their colleagues on the other side of the aisle. A former deputy Attorney General and minority MP for Bolga East, Dominic Ayine is currently at the Supreme court challenging the legitimacy of the President’s nomination. The lawmaker today reminded the Speaker of Parliament about the possible infraction to the law if Martin Amidu was approved by the House as Special Prosecutor.
“Mr. Speaker I am inviting your good self to make a determination humbly on this matter, in respect of this matter which is before the Supreme Court on the qualification or eligibility of the nominee,” Ayine noted, citing his basis from order 93 of the standing orders of Parliament.
However reacting to the intervention, the Majority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, argued that precedence before the house suggest the nominee could be approved by the House despite the pending case at the court. But the minority has resolved to boycott the debate and subsequent approval of the Special Prosecutor nominee.
If finally cleared by Parliament and sworn in by the President, Martin Amidu will become Ghana’s first Special prosecutor. The Special Prosecutor is a specialized agency tasked to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically-exposed persons as well as individuals in the private sector implicated in corrupt practices and to prosecute the offences on the authority of the Attorney-General.
The Office is also expected to help reduce the workload on existing investigative agencies and, thereby, enhance their effectiveness. The establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor has become necessary in view of the institutional bottlenecks that impede the fight against corruption.
