By William
Yaw Owusu
Friday February
23, 2018
Incoming Special Prosecutor Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu has
hinted that some individuals have allegedly begun going into exile.
He said there was no need for anybody to leave the country if that
individual has not committed any offence.
“There is no need for any citizen to go into exile as some are
alleged to have done, or to contemplate or fear my approval and pending
appointment as Special Prosecutor, so long as that citizen has not seriously
violated any law worth investigating or prosecuting in the national interest
under my remit,” the former Attorney General said in his latest article to the
media.
The title of the article, ‘My parting thoughts as citizen
vigilante,’ appears to be his last ‘epistle’ before he resumes office as
Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor.
Capricious Exercise
He noted, “The 1992 Constitution protects every citizen from
capricious exercise of discretion, and I will ensure strict compliance with the
letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution in protecting the citizen’s
rights...,” and promised that he was not going to touch any individual who has
not offended the law.
‘Perceptions’
Mr Amidu turned his attention to elements of the opposition
National Democratic Congress (NDC) who are pushing him to apologize for saying
that the corruption allegations he leveled against then President John Mahama
were ‘perceptions.’
He insisted that the fact that he told the Appointments Committee
of Parliament during his vetting that his articles against the former president
were based on ‘perceptions’ did not mean those allegations of massive
corruption were not true.
“I wish to say my response at my approval public hearing that some
of my articles are based on my perceptions and opinions does not mean that they
were not based on fact or reality,” he explained.
Partisan Questioner
The former Attorney General said he used the word ‘perception’
just to protect his sources, insisting, “I could not have given facts of
corruption allegations in my articles to a partisan questioner without
revealing or naming my informants and other sources and collection methods as a
Citizen Vigilante.
“An in-depth acquaintance with the Philosophy and Methods of
Research will show that perceptions and opinions need not be based on
conjecture or non-facts or illusion,” he pointed out, adding, “Those learned in
research methods and intelligence know that my answers were intended for the
protection of my sources and collection methods, giving rise to the conclusions
I arrived at in my several articles on corruption and abuse of power for
private gain.”
Article Three
According to the former Attorney General, Article 3 of the 1992
Constitution “would be hopeless if constitutional activists could not protect
their sources and collection methods of information disclosing breaches of the
Constitution and suspected commission of crime, and in particular, corruption
offences.
“In the protection of my sources and collection methods as Citizen
Vigilante under Article 3 of the Constitution, I used the words ‘perceptions’
and ‘opinions’ to stand for the intelligence acquired from my sources and
collection methods; my perceptions and opinions were formed from real human
sources and other real collection methods and therefore, could not have been
based on conjecture.
Parting Thoughts
He added, “I am writing these parting thoughts because the hearing
was widely publicized, and many viewers and readers may not be well versed in
the philosophy of research, research methodology, security and intelligence
studies and conflict resolution studies.”
Mr. Amidu said it was important to “dispel in the matter of the
debate whether perceptions and opinions are necessarily based on only
speculation, or illusion or non-reality or non-fact.”
Quasi-judicial Officer
He said he was probably firing for the last because “from the
moment I take my oath of office, I will be a quasi-judicial officer enjoined to
act impartially and independently in the execution of my duties.
“My voluntary acceptance to be appointed Special Prosecutor
imposes upon me strict compliance with the Code of Conduct and Ethics of the
legal profession in which I am viewed as an officer of the court, whether in or
outside the courtroom while I remain in office. In view of my acceptance, there
will of necessity be a change in the way I will exercise the plentitude of my
cherished rights as a citizen in accordance with Article 3 of the
Constitution.”
Presidential Meeting
The former Attorney General and Minister for Justice said that
since he met President Akufo-Addo on 9th January, 2018 for a nomination
confirmation discussion and accepted the potential nomination for consideration
for approval by parliament, he considered himself a potential public servant
and stopped his ‘citizen’s constitutional defence activism.’
“As I put it at my approval public hearing, the nomination gagged
me from speaking or writing in the press as a private citizen would,” he
stressed.
According to Mr Amidu, “It is in this spirit that I have taken
comments and criticisms arising from my responses to the Appointments Committee
of Parliament at my approval public hearing on 13th February 2018.”
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