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THE PRESS RELEASE BY THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, HON. MARTIN AMIDU AND SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS On Thursday, January 12, 2012, the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice, Honourable Martin Amidu, issued what was described as a strongly-worded statement in response to what he terms as �malicious libels by a section of the National Democratic Congress rented media against his competence and integrity.� In that press statement, the Minister, stated publicly that, �hard core criminals in society have made it a habit to hold paid membership cards of major political parties in the republic as an unconstitutional insurance against crime and criminal prosecutions�. This was apparently in reaction to revelations on the payment of a huge judgement debt to one Woyome and calls for some action to be taken on it. Following this Press Statement, the Honourable Minister was given the option of resigning from government or be sacked. He apparently refused to resign and has since been sacked by the President because he �... mis-conducted himself before the President during a meeting at the Castle...�. This has since been followed by the resignation of the Honourable Minister for Education, Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu who was the Attorney-General when the judgement debt was paid to Mr. Woyome. Although she has given reasons for her resignation, they could still be subjected for further interrogation. GII has looked at the statement and listened to various comments, including demands for the resignation and/or removal of the Honourable Attorney-General which the President has apparently heeded to. Some of the commentators have also called on Mr. Amidu to name the people he suspects to be involved in the alleged crimes. Surprisingly, some persons have called for the government to withdraw the \"Woyome\" case from court, when the former Attorney-General has publicly stated that the defendant in the case was wrongly awarded the judgement debt in the original case commenced by him against the state. The President�s removal of the former Attorney-General, Mr. Martin Amidu, and the resignation of his predecessor, Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu, leaves a lot of nagging questions in the minds of Ghanaians. The President has a duty to come out with what he knows about these developments and the �Woyome� case that led to all these developments. 1. Was Mr. Amidu�s misconduct his refusal to withdraw his allegations which he believes strongly in? OR 2. Was his misconduct his determination to pursue the �Woyome� case? 3. Was he removed in an attempt to kill the �Woyome� case? 4. Was Mrs. Iddrisu�s resignation ordered by the President? 5. Does this point to anything about her role in the �Woyome� case? 6. What is the truth surrounding the �Woyome� case? There could be more questions and GII, therefore, demands some answers from the relevant persons and institutions. GII believes strongly that the answers do not lie on the withdrawal of the case from court but rather on further investigations and the pursuance of the case in court. GII calls on the President to respect his promise to Ghanaians of transparent and accountable governance and his commitment to the fight against corruption by ensuring that the �Woyome� case is pursued to its logical conclusion. GII does not doubt the integrity and professionalism of the new Attorney-General, Honourable Ben Kumbuor and the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) in dealing with the matter, and calls on all and sundry to support them in the pursuance of the case. GII urges EOCO to discharge its mandate and to do a credible job as one of the foremost anti-corruption state agencies in Ghana so that Ghanaians will have faith in institutions that are charged to fight crime and corruption. Secondly, GII wishes to congratulate the former AG, Mr. Martin Amidu, for speaking out against corruption. It is unprecedented that a sitting Attorney-General had alleged corruption in high places. GII, therefore, demands that this unprecedented action be given the necessary government reaction in a manner that indicates their commitment to fighting corruption. We also urge the President to see it as an opportunity to make good on his anti-corruption campaign promises and live up to the values he espouses. GII wishes to take advantage of these developments to call on President John Atta Mills and his ruling NDC party to rise up above partisan considerations to live up to the ideals of transparency and accountability and deal with corruption as a national canker that must be extricated from the Ghanaian society. The President should, therefore, institute immediate investigations into the allegations made by the former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Amidu, and provide adequate protection and support for him. He should be encouraged to provide whatever information he has to support his allegations to enable the President to take appropriate action on the allegations in a way that is transparent and professional. The �Woyome� case is another lesson to all Ghanaian leaders and politicians. It is time business, public business in particular, is done in a transparent, professional and non-partisan way with due diligence taken in the award of contracts. The IFC and STX loans are still fresh on our minds and similar cases in the future should be avoided. Finally, GII wishes to call on the acting Attorney-General and Minister of Justice as well as the Inspector General of Police to ensure that all police detectives, prosecutors and state attorneys take their work seriously and where they are found wanting the necessary sanctions are applied to them. Ghana, we are told, is losing a lot of funds through the payment of judgement debts, which can be avoided if people take their work seriously. Prosecutors should not take cases to court only to lose the case because they have not built a good case or even just failed to appear in court. Signed Vitus A. Azeem Executive Director - GII (Issued by Ghana Integrity Initiative, Wednesday, 25th January, 2012)