The huge challenge thrown to Martin Amidu by Mahama Ayariga as he refuses to heed the summons from the office of the Special Prosecutor to appear in court to be tried in a case of “corruption” (clearing two vehicles without paying appropriate duties) further tarnishes Amidu’s image and rightfully/rightly undermines his authority.
Even though I find Ayariga’s response to be improperly written and wayward (seeking solace in the bosom of the Speaker of Parliament), I commend him for being brazen in telling Amidu what he needs to know: that he is overstepping bounds.
In any case, is it incumbent on Amidu to “invite” or “summons” or “summon” accused persons to court or forwarding whatever his office has to the established judicial authorities (the courts)? Clearly, the Office of the Special Prosecutor is not an adjudicating authority in our Ghanaian legal jurisprudence. What sort of legal gymnastics is happening here under Akufo-Addo?
Which particular court has been designated for trying cases of the sort brought up by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, anyway?
(Hindsight intelligence tells us about how Akufo-Addo confused Kufuor to establish the Fast Track Courts that Tsatsu Tsikata tore apart. What Amidu is in charge of is just a shameless replica of that nonsense, which this first attempt against Ayariga is ridiculing already).
Which “court” is Ayariga to appear before, anyway? The traditional “lorgorligi logarithm” courts that have become calcificifed problems preventing us from growing our democracy?
Once a case is sent there, it takes centuries to be adjucwdacted because, as Anas Aremeyaw Anas has told us, palm greasing becomes the standard for determi8ning what is what!!
No more rib-poking.
But is Martin Amidu himself certain that what he has initiated against Ayariga is based on anything that hasn’t happened in Ghana before, meaning that Ayariga has done the egregious thing for which he should be isolated and punished?
Come on, folks. The offence for which Amidu is persecuting him is no offense at all. Even, common people like us who have sent vehicles down to Ghana over the years had some reprieve. Why isolate Ayariga, then, as if he is the father of all fraudsters bringing vehicles to Ghana without paying so-called appropriate duties?
In any case, how much did Ghana lose in this venture that threatens its economy? How much did Freddie Play pay for importing the 275 mini-buses to boos the NPP’s politics?
A lot has gone on under Akufo-Addo’s watch that makes this Ayariga case a laughing stock in political mischief and personal vendetta by the unaccomplished and vindictive Amidu that has lost respect all over the place. He can’t redeem his image by targeting Ayariga for any special vengeance.
Of course, Ayariga was in full steam under the late Atta Mills when Amidu was shown the exit: the genesis of the hatred now culminating in this waywardness.
Much rot now occurs under Akufo-Addo than had happened hitherto, which Amidu should have focused on instead of revisiting the past “perceptions of corruption” (in his own words as he sought to damn Mahatma in his childish diatribes in public discourse).
If you doubt it, go to the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority, Customs and Excise Service (or what has become the Ghana Revenue Authority, which has no authority to determine what is what in Ghana as far as imports and exports regulations are concerned, having been torpedoed by Team Akufo-Addo’s economic and political interests to yield grounds to the vampires seeking fodder everywhere).
To cut matters short, I like it that Ayariga has damned Amidu and won’t appear in court as commanded by Amidu. Does Amidu know the processes for prosecution?
If he did, he should be the first to know that issuing summons as he did isn’t part of Ghana’s jurisprudence. Granted that his office is a new creation to change the paradigm if possible, he should have been the first to know how to do things.
If Ayariga has to appear in court to answer the charge leveled against him, the right procedures should have been invoked to compel him as such. Not in this case, which makes him right in resisting. Of course, he is also a lawyer!!
Bottom-line? Martin Amidu is overstepping bounds to nowhere.
My final thought? Mahama Ayariga shouldn’t have reached out to the office of the Speaker of Parliament as his defense for refusing to appear in court as pushed by Amidu. Why? Because Mike Ocquaye (the Speaker of Parliament) is an octopus, grabbing anything anywhere to sustain his life as a politician (having not succeeded in the academy for self-acquisition).
Ocquaye is an integral part of Team Akufo-Addo and a vicarious participant in the nonsensical political game of luck going on to trap and punish NDC operatives perceived by them as obstacles against their bid for retention in power at Election 2020. But he can’t manipulate the situation in this case without being shot out of office himself. Tension is building up already.
In any case, I think that Ayariga has joined the NDC Chairman (Samuel Ofosu Ampofo) in throwing the NPP’s ball back into its own court.
When politically motivated cases of this sort crop up, they raise eyebrows.
Let’s see how the kicking is done out or into the goal post for political advantage.
In any case, I am for Ayariga and Samuel Ofosu Ampofo. Who else is