Ayariga Cries Foul

Mahama Ayariga

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has said he feels persecuted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) over the probe into an alleged abuse of office and tax evasion.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNew’s PM Express, Mr. Ayariga said the evidence gathered from investigations and interrogations by the OSP does not warrant the level of disdain expressed by the Special Prosecutor (SP), Mr. Martin Amidu, towards him. “I have no doubt that this is persecution,” he said.

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 dragged before an Accra High Court by the SP for offences relating to the purchase of an ambulance and the two cases could not proceed because there was a writ challenging the eligibility of Mr. Amidu to occupy the office because of 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 had provided, claiming he is rather subjected to interrogations.

“I don’t think that those facts warrant prosecution … Where an ambulance is purchased and the pricing is the customs-declared value without profit or compensation for the supplier, clearly that should tell you that all the people who are involved in the acquisition of this ambulance were not out to defraud the state,” he explained.

Mr. Ayariga claimed that Mr. Amidu is hiding behind seeking justice to unnecessarily target 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 has 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 charged.

He, however, expressed confidence in the courts saying “I believe the courts will do the right thing.”

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri