Martin Amidu Gets GH¢180M to Fight Corruption

Government says it has allocated a whooping GH¢180 million to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to help it fight corruption in the country.

This was made known by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, when he presented the 2019 Budget Statement to Parliament, yesterday.

According to the minister, this amount is expected to be used to deliver on the OSP’s core mandate―prosecuting corrupt public officials.

“In line with Government’s promise to protect the public purse, His Excellency the President remains committed to the fight against corruption. The Special Prosecutor’s Office, which is established under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act 2017 (Act 959), is one of the highest priorities of government.

“In this budget, the Special Prosecutor’s Office has been allocated an amount of GH¢180 million from GoG with a commitment to provide additional resources during the course of 2019 to enable the Special Prosecutor’s Office to carry out its mandate,” the minister said.

Since its establishment nearly a year ago, the head of the OSP, Mr. Martin Amidu, had consistently complained of insufficient funding for his outfit, prompting many Ghanaians to wonder whether government was indeed serious about fighting corruption.

At a point, it was reported in the media that Mr. Amidu was considering resignation following government’s lack of attention for his office.

In an article, “The Whitaker Scenario―Stifling Independent Investigative Agencies of Funds,” the former Attorney General said his office has so far had “woefully inadequate” infrastructure and has been under-resourced since its establishment.

“One year down the line it has only a small three bed room house as an Office woefully inadequate for lack of shear physical space to accommodate any reasonable number of employees, lack of subsidiary legislation, and consequently also financially crippled without any ability to acquire the requisite expensive operational anti-corruption and other equipment for the Office let alone to function efficiently,” Mr. Amidu had lamented.

While some people say the GH¢180 million allocation could be a boost to the OSP, others think it is long overdue.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]