Amidu Was Sacked Despite Profuse Apology To Mills

For the many Ghanaians wondering why former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Alamisi Amidu, has been running riot ever since his dismissal from the Mills government in 2012, it has now finally emerged that Mr. Amidu is yet to come to terms with what could have prompted the late President to fire him after he had subsequently and unreservedly apologized for his earlier unruly behavior.

What is even eating up the former AG, The aL-hAJJ gathered, is that after persistently refusing over a five day period to show remorse for misconducting himself before the late president, he (Amidu) was handed a dismissal letter only a day after he finally cave in and personally delivered an apology letter to the late Mills believing, that should have been the end of the matter.

Mr Amidu, also known as ‘Citizen Vigilante’ has been responding to almost every issue relating to his conduct in government, what he may have deliberately refused and or, failed to speak to is whether at a meeting called at the instance of the late President Mills at the Castle Osu on January 13, 2012, he actually did raised his voice and talked harshly to the then sitting President?

Unknown to the world too was that, he (Mr. Amidu), subsequent to misconducting himself before President Mills and other high ranking government officials including then secretary to the President, Mr. Bebaako Mensah and the then chief of Staff, Martey Newman at the said meeting of January 13, 2012, later wrote a letter of apology to President Mills.

He had earlier verbally pleaded with the president to be forgiven for his “emotional reaction to (him) the president and others present”.

The former AG, after an expose by The aL-hAJJ on the matter last week, dared this paper to publish the apology letter to discredit his account that the late President fired him because he counseled him to persuade Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu to be used as prosecution witness in the criminal trial of Alfred Agbesi Woyome.

In response to Martin Amidu’s challenge, The aL-hAJJ has today scan and published his (Martin Amidu’s) apology letter he personally delivered to the late president on January 18, 2012 on our front and inside pages.

The apology letter, dated 18th January, 2012 and signed by Martin Amidu, reads “I write to reiterate the verbal apology I rendered to Your Excellency and to again formally render my unqualified apology for my emotional reaction to Your Excellency and others present at my interaction with you on Friday, 13th January, 2012. Your Excellency is aware that I had been under siege from our own press from 3rd January, 2012 to the date of the said interaction.”

“I had therefore come to the interaction with the perspective of a person who perceived his integrity to have been targeted for destruction. This of course did not help my reactions and I am sincerely sorry for them.”

“As it is customary, I have solicited the Chairman of the Council of State, and Capt. Kojo Tsikata (Rtd), as elders, to be kind enough to reiterate my apology to you on my behalf.

The onetime running-mate of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Martin Amidu, recently took many by surprise when he stated that he was booted out of office because of his advice to late President Mills to encourage another former Attorney General, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who authorized payment of GHC51m judgment debt to Mr. Woyome, to be used as a prosecution witness in the criminal case against the business mogul.

Mr. Amidu’s claim was contained in a press release in reaction to the recent acquittal and discharge of businessman, Alfred Woyome of two counts of causing financial loss to the state and fraud by false pretense, by an Accra Fast Track High Court in the payment of the controversial GHC51m judgment debt.

According to Mr Amidu “I had made it clear to the Mills/Mahama Government as its Attorney-General that no prosecution in the scam involving the over GH¢51 million will succeed by targeting Woyome alone without Waterville, Austro-Invest, Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, the Chief State Attorney whose spouse EOCO revealed had received Ghc400, 000 from Woyome while he was handling the case as an Attorney for the Government, and others.

I had suggested that Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu should be persuaded to be a prosecution witness in lieu of prosecution. The Government disagreed, so I was removed from office,” he alleged.

However, former National Security Coordinator, Gbevlo-Lartey, who was present at the meeting that led to Mr Amidu’s sack, dismissed his assertions, saying “that is not a statement of fact for those who witnessed the episode that led to the firing of Martin,” the former security capo wrote on a colleague’s facebook wall and continued: “Samson, I can assure you that was not the case on the matter of the sack. Scandalized might be mild.”

Indeed, The aL-hAJJ’s investigations have confirmed the former National Security Coordinator’s claims that Mr Amidu’s rendition of what led to his dismissal from the Mills government was half-truth, and that he was ousted on grounds of misdemeanor and misconduct for which he was later to apologize to.

However, in a respond to the former National Security Coordinator, Mr Amidu downplayed his (Gbevlo Lartey’s) knowledge of the said event at meeting that led to his dismissal.

He recently posited that “As for the incident of 13th January 2012 that he claims to know so much about, he was not present during the main discussion. Gbevlo-Lartey and Danquah, his deputy, came into the President's office, the forum, after the discussions had concluded and the meeting was being adjourned to 3 pm to enable Captain Kojo Tsikata and Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama to join the meeting. He cannot, therefore, be talking of what really took place at that meeting from personal knowledge but from hearsay.”

While the former AG, in his reaction to Gbevlo Lartey, said he boisterously conveyed to the late President through Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama to sack him because he was not ready to neither recant his allegations nor apologize, his January 18, 2012 apology letter proves otherwise.

Mr Amidu in his usual bragging attitude recently wrote “Was Gbevlo-Lartey consulted when the President delegated the then Member of the Council of State and my senior brother, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama on 18th January 2012 who invited me to his house with the demand from the President that I withdraw in writing my press statement of 12th January 2012 or be dismissed? I told Ahaji Iddrisu Mahama to convey to the President that I was ready for any eventuality and will not ever withdraw that truthful press statement. The next day, 19th January 2012 at 1 p. m I was handed a purported letter of termination of appointment with immediate effect only for a letter on the President's official green stationery to go to the press under the signature of John Martey Newman stating that I had been dismissed for misconduct.”

In support of Gbevlo Lartey’s claim that Mr Amudu’s rendition of circumstances leading to his sack was inaccurate, The aL-HAJJ in its Tuesday, March 24, 2014 edition reported that contrary to claims by Mr Amidu that he was sacked by the late President because he advised him (Mills) to persuade Betty Mould Iddrisu to be used as prosecution witness in the criminal trial of Alfred Agbesi Woyome, he (Amidu) was indeed sacked due to insubordination and misconduct.

And that, he (Martin) later wrote and hand delivered to the late President Mills, an apology letter recanting his unsavory remarks, and also unreservedly asked for forgiveness for raising his voice at the late President, who nominated him running-mate for the 2000 elections.
Mr Amidu, at the January 13, 2012 meeting called by the late President Mills at the Osu Castle when asked to name government officials he alleged were involved in the Woyome scandal or be fired, told President Mills in his face:

“…You can take your job, I don't care, I am a Ghanaian, you can't take away my Ghanaian citizenship... I am a Ghanaian; I don’t need you or your job to survive…”

Strangely, though the former AG claimed he would not respond to the publication when called by Accra based Adom FM, he nonetheless later sent out this terse message to be read on the radio station “Why not publish my so-called letter of apology for everyone to see. Bature has never been a government appointee…so why would I respond to what he claims happened with the president. The government should publish everything so I can reply for the public to determine the truth.

“…Bature is not someone I have even taken seriously…I deal with respected people. Kindly tell the public of this response.
But as the saying goes, “truth crushed to earth shall rise again.” President John Evans Atta Mills is not alive today to lay to rest what led to the sacking of Mr Martin Amidu, but his (Martin Amidu’s) own apology letter, which all along he had sought to conceal, has proven that he indeed gave a skewed version of what led to his sacking from the Mills/Mahama administration.