Parliament’s Appointments Committee is set to vet the Special Prosecutor nominee, Martin Amidu, today, despite a lawsuit challenging his eligibility.
A former deputy Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine filed a suit at the Supreme Court a day before the vetting, arguing the nominee is too old to hold the position.
He wants the apex court of the land to annul the appointment because “…by reason of his age, (66 years), Mr. Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu is not qualified or eligible to be approved by Parliament as the Special Prosecutor under Section 13(3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2018 (Act 959).”
Meanwhile, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei Owusu has stated that the age of Amidu cannot disqualify him from becoming the Special Prosecutor.
“This one is a specific contract and you are recruited for a specific term and it doesn’t matter your age. The president knew and considered his age…of course nobody can tell where sickness or death will come from…but so long as he has strength and the proper state of mind, he has the seven years to serve,” Mr. Owusu stated.
Mr. Amidu, has earned the nickname ‘Citizen Vigilante’ for his no-nonsense stance and campaign against corruption particularly during the NDC administration.
President Akufo-Addo in announcing the nominee said: “I have done so because I am fully convinced that Mr. Martin Amidu, a prominent legal personality who held the high office of the Attorney General of the Republic in the government of the late President John Evans Attah Mills has the requisite integrity, competence, courage and independence of character to discharge effectively the responsibilities of this office.”
Martin A. B. K. Amidu was the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice from January 2011 till January 2012 under the late President John Evans Atta-Mills.
Amidu, a member of the NDC, served as the Deputy Attorney-General for about the last four years of the Provisional National Defence Council military government.
After civilian rule was established in the Fourth Republic in January 1993, he continued to serve in the government of Jerry Rawlings as Deputy Attorney-General. This he did for both terms lasting eight years until January 2001.
In the December 2000 presidential elections, he stood as the running mate of John Atta Mills. They both, however, lost to President John Kufuor that year.
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