In the early seventies we used to watch one cowboys film titled, “Run Man Run, Santana Is In Town”. In those days, marauding cowboys used to raid Kraals, killing cattle ranchers and looting their properties. Anytime the cowboys entered a town, people run helter skelter. There was this particular guy called Santana, a particular cowboy who did not countenance the behavior of these rogue cowboys and decided to take them on in a ruthless manner.
Santana will wake up every morning, fasten his pistol on his hip, jump on his horse and went about looking for cowboys who played the buffoonery. The guy is a very good marksman and so when he had an encounter with these cowboys, he will take them out one after the other until the rest run for dear life. So anytime Santana entered any town, a jubilant crowd would come out of their houses to meet him. Santana was simply a hero and a torn in the flesh of rogue cowboys.
The happiest day in my life in this New Year was when I heard that the President, Nana Akufo Addo has appointed Mr. Martin Alamisi Barnes Kaiser Amidu as the Special Prosecutor. Corrupt officials under the disgraced NDC regime under John Mahama should run for cover because Santana is in town. Those in government today should also be on the look out because Santana will not spare them if they are found wanting. Anybody who will oppose the appointment of the fine legal brain as a Special Prosecutor has skeletons in his or her cupboard. In the run-up to the 2016 general elections, then candidate Nana Akufo Addo promised Ghanaians that when he got the nod as the president of Ghana he will appoint a Special Prosecutor to tackle corruption which was institutionalized by the John Mahama-led administration and he has kept that.
Listen to Mr. Rawlings on the appointment of Mr. Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor: The President by this appointment has risen above partisanship and recognized a highly principled citizen. Mr. Amidu has proven to be fearless anti-corruption crusader whose pursuit of truth and justice has won him national admiration.” And you sit somewhere beat your stomach and tell Ghanaians that Mr. Amidu is not an NDC man. Mr. Rawlings knows Martin Amidu from the revolutionary days till they formed the NDC. Only a fool will believe that Mr. Amidu is not a card-bearing member of the NDC. When the going was tough and the tough kept moving, where were these latter day saints?
You see, it is not only in Ghana that a Special Prosecutor is appointed to bring checks and balances into governance and society as a whole. In the United States, a Special Prosecutor or Special Counsel or Independent Counsel is a lawyer appointed to investigate and potentially prosecute a particular case of a suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority. Other jurisdictions have similar systems. For example, the investigation of an allegation against a sitting president or Attorney General might be handled by the Special Prosecutor rather than by an ordinary prosecutor who would otherwise be in the position of investigating their own superior. And so, you see the reason why we need a Special Prosecutor? Instead of thanking the president for keeping his word, NDC communicators are out there bastardizing Mr. Amidu, calling him names and using vulgar language to describe the gentleman. Some even say he is not a card bearing member of the NDC. Really? Have these people forgotten that that once upon a time he was a Running-Mate to the late Professor Mills and a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice under the same Mills, administration? The other day when Mr. Mahama spoke to NDC supporters at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region where they had their Unity Walk, he said Nana Addo was going to appoint a family member or his personal lawyer as a Special Prosecutor so that that person could jail NDC former appointees. Now that an NDC man has been appointed, what is Mr. Mahama telling the NDC supporters at Techiman? Shame!
Anyway why is the NDC afraid of the appointment of Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor? Is it because he was the one who blew the lid over the Woyomegate? Even before his appointment, the man referred to himself as a Citizen Vigilante and we are all living witnesses to the numerous cases he pursued. The work of a Special Prosecutor is not to prosecute only political appointees. It is a national call and Civil Servants, Public Servants and a cross section of society can be called to answer questions bordering on corruption. I therefore see no reason why only NDC supporters are afraid of the man. Even if a Police or Army officer is found wanting as far as corruption is concerned, the person will face the music squarely.
Those who surprise me most are the NDC foot soldiers who worked like beast of labour to bring the NDC into power only to be jettisoned by their leadership who grew Epicurean and lived like Pharaohs of yesteryears. If you listen to some of them criticizing Martin Amidu, you will be at a loss as to why they are doing that. While NDC party functionaries educated their children in prestigious schools at home and abroad, you, the foot soldiers, were living from hand to mouth and when a Special Prosecutor is about to start his work you are kicking like a bull. The Akans say if the lizard goes to eat pepper, it is not frog’s business to breathe into his mouth to sooth the pain. ( Okotre nko di mako mma aponkyerene enhuhu na no)
As for me if the Whistle Blowers Bill is passed into law, I will never hesitate to report any suspected corrupt cases to the authorities. We need money to service the Free SHS, continue paying teacher and nursing trainee allowances and many more projects that could assuage the suffering of the masses. We have all come to one conclusion that corruption retards progress of the nation and so any attempt to sabotage the efforts of Mr. Amidu will be resisted. Ex-President Mahama served notice at Ho where the 31st December revolution was celebrated that if former functionaries of the NDC regime were hauled to court, supporters of the party should rally behind them. Nobody has any problem with that but if they try to besiege the courts where these people are going to be tried, they should expect nothing but big trouble.
Good morning Madam Dzifa Ativor, Minister of Transport and the queen of bus branding. You were harboring the fears that if the NDC supporters fail to vote for the party to come to power you and some of your colleagues will be jailed. The time has come and so prepare to face the music. It is only you who knows why you will go to jail if the NPP came to power so it is not for me to tell you. As for me I am not afraid of Mr. Martin Amidu because my hands are clean. I am just a poor guy sitting ‘my somewhere’ minding my own business. The Akans say it is only those who dance who feel their testicles dangling inside their pants. If Mr. Amidu starts barking behind me I will not look back because he can not bite me since I have done nothing wrong.
But if you are a Board Member of Bui Authority and you are given a contract to mould blocks for the authority, you have committed a conflict of interest and you will meet Martin Amidu one day. The law says crime has no status barrier. The fact that the board member committed that offense many years ago doesn’t mean he will have his way. His initials are J. A. N and he is a scribe of a poplar political party in Ghana. We need to expand the Nsawam Maximum Prison for more inmates are coming.
When I was first introduced to Cigar smoking, I found the cost of a stick of cigar very costly so I started with the cheapest one called Lost City Cigar. I miss it so much and so today I want to revisit the past by puffing Lost City Cigar.
Eric Bawah