Martin K. Amidu
Martin K. Amidu, a former Special Prosecutor, has accused Kissi Agyebeng, the current Special Prosecutor of attempting to con the media and the public by defreezing five out of seven bank accounts of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
According to him, the said bank accounts are a subject of an application filed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) seeking confirmation of their freezing, hence the Special Prosecutor could not have defrozen them on his own without resorting to the court for an order.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor, in a statement last Monday, shared on social media, indicated that its investigation so far has eliminated the five accounts from suspicions or being tainted, hence the decision to release them.
“On October 16, 2023 the Special Prosecutor revoked the freezing order in respect of the eliminated five (5) bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah,” the statement noted.
It added that, “The freezing order is still in force and effect in respect of the other bank accounts and financial assets of Ms. Dapaah.”
Madam Dapaah is under investigation on suspicion of corruption and corruption-related offences after she was arrested by the OSP on July 24, 2023.
This is the second time in a few days that Mr. Amidu has accused Mr. Agyebeng of not following due process in dealing with Madam Dapaah’s case.
His initial criticism was about the Special Prosecutor fishing for a court and judge to hear his cases by petitioning the Chief Justice to remove Justice Edward Twum from the case and all cases being prosecuted by the OSP.
He is now accusing the Special Prosecutor of public deception in his purported lifting of the freezing order on five of the seven bank accounts which are subject of court proceeding without recourse to the court.
“I could not believe my eyes when I read on Ghana Web the Special Prosecutor’s attempt to con the media and the public by assuming the power to defreeze five (5) bank accounts out of a number of bank accounts contained in his own application pending in the High Court,” Mr. Amidu wrote.
He said the proper procedure for the Special Prosecutor to have followed to have the five (5) bank accounts defrozen at this stage of the proceedings was to apply to the court to order the defreezing of those five (5) bank accounts and to order the hearing on the remaining bank accounts to continue.
According to Mr. Amidu, lawyers for Madam Dapaah in accordance with the due process of law are entitled to a hearing on the reasons contained in the application of the Special Prosecutor for the defreezing of those five bank accounts to ensure that there were valid grounds for the prior administrative freezing by the Special Prosecutor.
This, he said, will enable them also argue whether the hearing on the remaining bank accounts ought to be ordered to continue.
“The motives of the Special Prosecutor for petitioning the Chief Justice that aborted the October 12, 2023 court hearing are now open to legitimate speculation by rational citizens in the light of the October 16, 2023 developments under discussion,” he said.
“Kissi Agyebeng is running away with his tail between his legs from the adversarial process of the High Court even in matters which are subjudice. The proper forum for a competent and an experienced Special Prosecutor to state why the five (5) bank accounts should be defrozen when the matter is already in court, is before the High Court and not in the media to con the unsuspecting public,” Mr. Amidu further pointed.
He also advised Madam Dapaah’s lawyers to pursue the abuse of the process of the court entailed in the Special Prosecutor’s conduct to hold him accountable in open court after the petition has been dealt with by the Chief Justice’s directives and the substantive case filed on September 11, 2023, comes on for hearing.
“Mr. Kissi Agyebeng needs to be reminded that the public office of Special Prosecutor is not akin to his former status as counsel for the anti-corruption entrepreneurial Tiger Eye PI where no law governs its operations,” Mr. Amidu added.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak