GRA's letter "discloses" Martin Amidu's letter

General News of Saturday, January 19th, 2019

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com

2019-01-19

Special Prosecutor, Martin A.B.K. Amidu accuses the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) of allegedly disclosing his "urgent" letter to the Commissioner-General of authority addressed to Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga.

According to Mr. Amidu, the "urgent letter" was written to the general commissioner of the GRA, Kofi Nti, alone, without any other person or entity being copied, but she managed to find her way to the end. to the NDC MP, who is a person of interest to the special prosecutor's office.

The Special Prosecutor stated that Mr. Ayariga, for reasons that he was well aware of, had also transmitted the letter "with impunity" to the Executive Director of the Office for the Fight against Organized and Economic Crime (ACP), KKK Amoah via WhatsApp, a social media platform.

"Hon. Mahama Ayariga was accompanied to the Special Prosecutor's Office by an investigator from the Bureau of Economic Crime and arranged to be interrogated about an urgent letter addressed by that office to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. Kofi Nti, who was not copied to another person or entity, "he said.

The former Attorney General added: "The letter addressed by the GRA to WhatsApp was forwarded to WhatsApp by the Hon. Mahama Ayariga, who in turn transmitted the message on WhatsApp with impunity to the Executive Director of EOCO on December 24, 2018. I was informed of the WhatsApp on December 25, 2018 and I I sent a copy by email on December 27, 2018 after insisting on it.

EOCO and the Office of the Special Prosecutor opened an investigation against Mahama Ayariga for allegedly obstructing investigations and other offenses.

Mr. Amidu believes the MP's action to send WhatsApp messages to EOCO is "bold and suspicious".

In an article yesterday, the special prosecutor said that his office was investigating the circumstances in which the letter to the head of the GRA was disclosed.

According to him, "The investigation is very important for the fight against corruption because many funds have already been lost for public finances following the leakage of the actions undertaken by GRA to recover the sums collected by tax evaders."

He said: "This particular case has given me the opportunity to try to shed light on this chancre of corruption. The investigation into the leaks of my letter from the GRA continues, despite those who claim to have powerful parents in the government. "

The NDC MP appeared before EOCO on January 4, 2019, but was not questioned about it and his phone was not taken as an exhibit, a development of which Mr. Amidu seems not to be satisfied.

"Rather, he was allowed to go to his riding without my knowledge as an investigator. As a result, I asked the GRA Minister to investigate the leak of my letter, "said the Special Prosecutor in his last letter.

Political puppet

Meanwhile, Mr Amidu warned his critics that he would not let himself be used by anyone or group of people for political investigations or prosecutions.

"Let me repeat; no one can use myself or my office for political investigations or prosecutions as long as I remain a special prosecutor. Fortunately, this president has kept his promise to give me a free hand to fulfill my mandate under the 2017 Law on the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Law No. 959), "said Amidu.