Keep the public abreast to reduce expectations – Justice Short to Amidu
A former Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Emile Francis Short, has charged the Special Prosecutor, Martin A. B. K. Amidu, to keep the public abreast with his work in order to reduce the huge expectations of Ghanaians.
According to Justice Short, the public had unrealistic expectations when Martin Amidu was appointed.
Justice Short explained further that Mr Amidu needed to establish an office, recruit staff, put in place a board and appoint a deputy. “There were a lot of things that had to be done before the office can be functional.”
The former Judge told David Ampofo on ‘Time With David’ that Mr Amidu has the courage to address corruption irrespective of who is involved and he has great confidence in him to deliver.
“I understand that he has investigated quite a number of cases, I know one is in court… it is true that the public are impatient and want to see some high-profile prosecutions as soon as possible and I think that what the Special Prosecutor should be doing is to keep the public abreast with what he is doing so that the public will understand that the delay is excusable,” he said.
He noted that he was very pleased when Mr Amidu was appointed Special Prosecutor because of his track record of fighting corruption which earned him the nickname ‘Citizen Vigilante’.
Background
The Special Prosecutor has been criticized widely by the public for not living up to his mandate of being appointed to fight corruption in the country.
One of his foremost critics, the MP for Adentan constituency who doubles as the Communications Director of the ruling NPP vehemently told him to stop complaining about interference in his work and continue to serve as expected of him.
Yaw Buaben Asamoah told the media that so long as no one is preventing the Special Prosecutor from carrying out his work, he must stay focused and discharge his duties professionally.
“Why is he complaining all the time. Let him do his work. Has the president told Martin Amidu to stop work, no. Has a minister who wrote a letter to the CID told Martin Amidu to stop work, no. Has the CID in its report to Martin Amidu told him to stop work? No. I don’t think it will be useful to be at opposite ends of the table with the CID. I think it will be better for him to pick up that report, look at flaws, if any, he finds per his view within the Special Prosecutor’s Act and move on to deal with those issues. Nobody has stopped him or can stop him from moving to investigative that matter,” the NPP communications director, said.