Hagar Amidu
A daughter of the Special Prosecutor (SP), Martin A. B. K. Amidu, has labelled opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central in the Upper East Region, Mahama Ayariga, as a liar after he had tried to rope the lady into his legal tussle with her father.
Mr. Ayariga on JoyNews on Tuesday had alleged that he has a very good relationship with the family of Mr. Amidu, even though he has been charged by the SP for alleged procurement breaches and is facing trial.
The Bawku Central MP said on JoyNews that because of the good relationship he has with the family of the SP, he recently travelled with the daughter of the SP, Hagar Amidu, in his car to Bawku.
He claimed that in a conversation during the course of the trip, the daughter of the SP profusely empathized with him over his legal problem with her father.
He said despite his ongoing legal tussle with the SP, he still does not have any problem with him or his family.
Rebutting Ayariga’s claim, Hagar Amidu said on Joy FM yesterday that it was totally false for the MP to say she sat in his car to Bawku where they even discussed the case against the lawmaker.
“I overheard him saying he is free with me and that he had a conversation with me on the matter. I’ve never ever sat in his car,”she fired back.
“I’m not part of it…It’s none of my business…I’m not a Special Prosecutor. He should deal with the Special Prosecutor. I don’t even know whatever is happening so I don’t know why he should come out and talk about me and mention my name,” Hagar pointed out.
Hagar Amidu also denied having any engagements with Mr. Ayariga on “matters of his office”, saying “I used to have a good relationship with him. I’m not fighting with him. This is between him and my father and that is their work. I’m not part. I’m not a politician. I want him to leave me alone.”
During the interview, Ayariga said he felt persecuted by the Office of the SP over the probe into an alleged abuse of office and tax evasion, saying “I have no doubt that this is persecution.”
The SP filed a suit in court on March 22, 2019, citing the Bawku Central MP for abuse of office.
In another case, Mr. Ayariga and six other current and former officials of the Bawku Municipal Assembly have been hauled before an Accra High Court by the SP for offences relating to the purchase of an ambulance, but the two cases could not proceed because there was a writ challenging the eligibility of Mr. Amidu to occupy the office as regards his age.
Coincidentally, the Supreme Court gave Mr. Amidu the go-ahead to do his work around the same time Mahama Ayariga was on television claiming he was being persecuted by the OSP.
The Bawku Central MP said the SP had not paid attention to the evidence he has provided and claimed he is rather subjected to interrogations.
Mr. Ayariga claimed Mr. Amidu was hiding behind seeking justice to unnecessarily harass him.
“You can see that this person is not looking for the truth. This person is not out there to do justice. This person is just looking for Ayariga and thinks he had found Ayariga,” he stated.
He said in the case of the alleged tax evasion, the agent and the custom officials who revalued the duty should be prosecuted together with him, but he is the only person being targeted.
He, however, expressed confidence in the courts, saying “I believe the courts will do the right thing.”