Martin Amidu has said his former boss has shown he was involved in the Sputnik V saga
• Martin Amidu has written a new epistle titled, ‘Do not be like Thomas whose eyes could not see’
• He believes that the president has shown he was directly involved in the Sputnik V procurement
• Amidu linked the recent happenings to his earlier claims that the president had interfered in his work as Special Prosecutor
Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has stated that the pronouncements by the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the ongoing controversial Sputnik V vaccine and the involvement of Kwaku Agyeman-Manu implicates him.
According to Martin Amidu’s latest epistle, the comments by the president confirms evidence of his interference with the investigatory and adjudicatory process in the matter, just as he had earlier mentioned before he stepped down from his position.
During his Bono region tour last week, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, commenting on the widespread calls for the resignation of the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said that his appointee has been unjustly vilified.
“There are a lot of people from the Bono Region in my government; including the Minister of Health, who is currently receiving slaps [from Ghanaians]. He is an indigene of Dormaa. He has really suffered in that Health Ministry and is still suffering,” he said amid laughter.
His comments were interpreted as his support for Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, a position that Martin Amidu agrees with.
In his epistle, Amidu states that Ghanaians should not “be fooled that this was intended as a joke.”
Providing his evidence on why he believes that the president has shown that he was directly involved in the messy Sputnik V procurement, the former SP made reference to circumstances that led to his own resignation in November 2020.
“When I stated the President’s interference with the independent performance of the functions of the Special Prosecutor in investigations and prosecution of suspected corruption and corruption-related matters affecting the government and its appointees as the main reason for my resignation, doubting Thomases, as usual, had no eyes to see nor hear and questioned my judgment.
“After my resignation, the whole world witnessed how the anti-corruption Auditor-General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo, was hounded out of office on flimsy grounds for daring to endorse and approve audit findings made by his staff against members of The Family,” he said.
He further explained that the processes involved in the former Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo’s “hounding” out of office, provide even more evidence to that claim.
“In the President Akufo-Addo Government’s desperation for vengeance, the EOCO hauled the Auditor-General for alleged procurement malpractices involving the absence of public procurement authority approval in a case in which the Auditor-General was clearly not involved in the procurement process or of any breaches thereof.
“The revenge exacted by the President on Mr. Daniel Domelevo, as an Auditor General exercising the independent constitutional functions assigned to his office under the Constitution as the Auditor General was a clear interference in the performance of the functions of the Auditor-General by the President for making audit findings against members of The Family and yet the doubting Thomases could not again see nor hear,” he explained.
Background
Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Health Minister, in his quest to get Ghanaians vaccinated against the novel Coronavirus engaged the services of the Private Office of Sheikh Al Maktoum for the supply of the Sputnik V vaccines. Ghana had already taken delivery of 20,000 out of an expected 300,000 doses.
Sheikh Al Maktoum was paid $2,850,000 for his services out of an expected $5,700,000.
The Sheikh in the letter obtained by GhanaWeb also indicated that no funds had been drawn under the Letter of Credit which expired as of June 2021.
He is also expecting a payment receipt once the funds are credited to the government bank account.
The refund is minus the cost of 20,000 doses ($380,000) supplied by the businessman.
Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, decided to refund the money following a request from the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, who is at the moment on a two-week leave.
The supply of the vaccines hit a snag, leading to the termination of the agreement between the businessman and Ghana’s Ministry of Health in July this year.
At a nine-member parliamentary ad-hoc committee probe on the issue, the embattled Health Minister admitted to entering into the contract with the Dubai Sheikh, without parliamentary approval.
He indicated that he approved the purchase of US$64.6 million contracts for the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia, out of the exigencies of the time.
That act by the Minister, who is a former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, violated the requirement of Article 181 (5) of the 1992 constitution.
The minister explained that the goal was to get vaccines to save the lives of the people by hook or crook, and planned to move to seek formal parliamentary processes thereafter.
But the nine-member ad-hoc committee report indicated that the health minister failed in seeking parliamentary approval, regardless of the pressure at the time and that could not substitute due provisions enshrined in the constitution.
Meanwhile, several civil society organisations, pressure groups, and individuals have expressed disgust over the revelations on the deal, calling for the head of the minister.