Deputy Special Prosecutor Ms
Jane Cynthia Naa Torshie Lamptey has been asked to act as Special Prosecutor
until a substantive one is appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufio-Addo
following the resignation pf Mr Martin Amidu from the post.
Ms Lamptey is a lawyer of over
30 years standing at the Ghana Bar and former acting Director of Public
Prosecutions.
Commenting on her new assignment, Chairman of the
Civil Society Platform on Oil andf Gas, Dr Steve Manteaw said “Mad. Cynthia
Lamptey, Acting SP I salute you. It’s a difficult task, we know, but we trust
you to fulfill our aspirations.”
Her former boss, Mr Amidu
resigned on Monday November 16, citing a number of reasons for his resignation.
He said in his letter to the president that “It is
essential for me to state for the purpose of the records, and contrary to
public perceptions, that my appointment letter was received on 5th February
2020 (almost two (2)-years after my appointment).
“The copy addressees made no efforts to honour any of
the conditions of appointment in terms of emoluments and benefits of the
appointment ever since my warrant of appointment was issued on 23rd February
2018 to the date of my letter of resignation. The Deputy Special Prosecutor has
also not been paid any emoluments since her appointment, and there is the need
to redress that situation for her now that I am out of the way.
“The events of 12th November 2020 removed the only
protection I had from the threats and plans directed at me for undertaking the
Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption assessment report and
dictates that I resign as the Special Prosecutor immediately.
“I should not ordinarily be announcing my resignation to the
public myself but the traumatic experience I went through from 20th October
2020 to 2nd November 2020 when I conveyed in a thirteen (13) page letter the
conclusions and observations on the analysis of the risk of corruption and
anti-corruption assessment on the Report On Agyapa Royalties Limited
Transactions and Other Matters Related Thereto to the President as Chairman of
the National Security Council cautions against not bringing my resignation as
the Special Prosecutor with immediate to the notice of the Ghanaian public and
the world.
“The reaction I received for
daring to produce the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption
report convinces me beyond any reasonable doubt that I was not intended to
exercise any independence as the Special Prosecutor in the prevention, investigation,
prosecution, and recovery of assets of corruption. My position as the Special
Prosecutor has consequently become clearly untenable.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo has however, vehemently denied interfering with the work of Mr
Amidu.
“Your accusation of interference
with your functions simply on account of the meeting the president held with
you is perplexing.
“In exercise of what you
considered to be your powers under Act 959, you had voluntarily proceeded to
produce the Agyapa Report.
“The president had no hand in
your work. Without prompting from any quarter within the Executive. you
delivered a letter purporting to be a copy of you report to the president.
“The purpose of presenting a
copy of the Agyapa report to the president is decipherable from paragraph 32 of
your letter to the president in which you indicated that you hoped the report
will be ‘used to improve current and future legislative and executive actions
to make corruption and corruption-related offences very high risk enterprise in
Ghana’,” the president said in a statement responding to the accusation against
him by Mr Amidu who resigned from his post on Monday.
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