The crime will be treated as a crime by the Office of the Special Prosecutor – Martin Amidu

General News on Thursday, January 17, 2019

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2019-01-17

The special prosecutor, Martin Amidu, warned that his office would not be used to conduct political investigations or prosecutions, as he meticulously works to rid the country of corruption and corrupt officials.

This follows a report on an alleged investigation of Central Bawku MP Mahama Ayariya, referring to the purchase of an ambulance for his riding.

Exposing the facts in a statement observed by ghanaweb.com, the Special Prosecutor stated that even though the MP was accompanied to the Special Prosecutor's Office by an investigator from the Bureau of Economic and Organized Crime (EOCO), he was not not related to the purchase. from an ambulance.

According to him, Mr. Ayariya was reportedly questioned about the receipt and subsequent sending of a confidential letter written by the Special Prosecutor's Office to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Tax Authority, Mr. Kofi Nti. .

"EOCO and this office have been investigating the Hon. Mahama Ayariga for obstructing investigations and other alleged infractions and, as a result, for her commitment to communicate with WhatsApp messages intended for EOCO was audacious and suspicious.

L & # 39; Hon. Mahama Ayariga appeared before EOCO on January 4, 2019, but was not questioned about the origin of the GRA leak and her phone was not taken as an exhibit . Rather, he was allowed to go to his riding without my knowledge as an investigator. As a result, I asked the Minister responsible for the GRA to investigate the leak of my letter to Mr. Kofi Nti and the Hon. Mahama Ayariga and then to EOCO.

L & # 39; Hon. Mahama Ayariga was accompanied by two lawyers to the investigative division of that office on January 14, 2019, where he confessed to having received the WhatsApp call he had sent to EOCO's Executive Director and released him on bail. " , says the release.

While revealing an ongoing investigation into another violation of the Public Procurement Law, Mr. Amidu stated that he would also not be intimidated to prosecute his fellow citizens under the purely political pretext of a party. .

He added that his office would continue to treat crime as a crime because no political map will be accepted as an insurance against the investigation and prosecution of corruption offenses.

"I am also investigating another violation of the Public Procurement Act that directly affects my Office and in which suspects have failed or refused to appear because they believe they have links to the government. However, I can badure the public that as long as I occupy the role of special prosecutor, the crime will always be treated as a crime and that no political party card can serve as a guarantee against investigations and / or prosecution for offenses within my mandate to the Bureau. of the 2017 Law on Special Prosecutors (Law 959). I am determined to maintain the confidence that Ghanaians have placed in me to support my approval and appointment by the President as Special Prosecutor until further decided by a competent court. "

However, he indicated that an investigation into the acquisition of the said ambulance for the central district of Bawku was underway and that his office was interviewing the MP and the director general of the municipality.

"Coincidentally, a Yakubu Mumuni Nambe, Member of Parliament of the Bawku Municipal Assembly and a relative of the Hon. Ayariga on the mother's side was invited the same day to an interrogation on the purchase of an ambulance by the Bawku Municipal Assembly. The City Director General, the Hon. Hajia Hawa Ninchema, appointed by the President and other personalities, had already been calmly interrogated, as in our own way in the past, in the same ambulance, but never. Mahama Ayariga, "revealed the special prosecutor.