Work of OSP on Labianca does not show any acts of corruption – Martin Amidu
Former Special Prosecutor Mr Martin Amidu has waded into the conversation on the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s report on alleged corruption by Labianca Group of Companies which had been quite topical in the media space in the past few weeks.
According to the Special Prosecutor’s report which was released on Wednesday, 3rd August 2022, three persons; Madam Asomah–Hinneh, Council of State member and a Board Member for Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, Mr Joseph Adu Kyrie, Deputy Commissioner for Customs and Col(Rtd) Kwadwo Damoah, Commissioner for Customs at the Ghana Revenue Authority were fingered in a July 17th to December 2021 probe concerning the issuance of customs advance rulings and lowering of benchmark values for Labiaca Group of Companies.
The special prosecutor noted that the granting of unlawful customs advance rulings led to a slip in revenue to the tune of GH¢1,074,627.15.
To probe further, the Commissioner General for GRA, Reverend Amishaddai Owusu-Amoah was urged to bring out an integrity strategy with the sole aim of curbing corruption among customs officers by December.
But Mr Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor slammed the work of his successor citing that it was not legally right to make public the report for the alleged suspects to be bashed by a court of public opinion without taking into consideration their reputation.
He indicated that he does not see any disclosure in the said report which points to the commission of corrupt acts which the suspects are alleged to have committed.
Also, another issue he raised with the investigation is the fact that they were treated as witnesses as they all wrote their statements as required but no professional prosecutor made any further probe against them.
The report in his opinion is not based on any authority but rather damages the hard-won reputation of the individuals after the OSP went ahead to make the report public.
According to him, he does not see the need for the president to act on such an “unconstitutional report”.
Mr Amidu’s criticism of the report follows the same sentiment shared by Col(Rtd) Damoah after the report was published.
