Amidu’s letter lashing out at a petitioner in a staggering way will discourage whistleblowers – Azar

General news for Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Source: My GH news

2020-09-23

Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare (Kwaku Azar), an illustrious legal and public intellectual, has opined that Special Counsel Martin Amidu’s letter criticizing and shaming STRANEK’s Mr. Tettey Tetteh for requesting his office to investigate the Agyapa agreement is astonishing and it has the effect of dissuading others from applying. his office.

Amidu scolded Tetteh harshly for asking his office to do something that is already being done. She accused her of opportunism, populism and a neglected appetite for credit.

But Professor Azar has argued that public offices such as the Special Prosecutor’s Office (OSP) must be receptive to such requests even if they are already working on the subjects of the petitions.

“A good prosecutor should always receive leads, information or complaints from the public, even if they turn out to be not helpful, helpful or redundant. This is because a prosecutor cannot or does not expect the public to know what information it does or does not have about crimes that have been or are about to be committed.

Also, a prosecutor should not reveal his sources to the public. Nor should a prosecutor publicly criticize an informant for providing information that turns out to be useless. Doing so only freezes others who may have relevant information. That is why I consider that the last epistle of the Special Prosecutor criticizing and shaming Mr. Tetteh de Stranek for allegedly requesting his office to investigate the Agyapa agreement is astonishing, ”he reacted on social media.

Professor Azar disagreed with accusations of opportunism and populism by Mr. Tetteh, the petitioner, and argued that the attempt to embarrass him is untenable as such petitions could be important leads.

“In this letter, the SP accuses the petitioner of being opportunist and populist. I object. Rather, I believe that the actions of the SP, obviously calculated to embarrass the petitioner, will have the negative effect of preventing others from submitting such petitions or of providing leads to the SP that may be very relevant, ”he stated.

Professor Azar urged Amidu to focus more on his prosecution and limit script writing and epistle publishing and be accommodating and even accept redundant requests.

“There is corruption everywhere. The SP should accept the petitions, even if they are redundant, carry out more prosecutions and write fewer epistles ”, he concluded.

Several notable commentators have agreed with Professor Azar on the inappropriateness of the petitioner’s public mockery.