Amidu has jurisdiction to probe PDS scandal – Inusah Fuseini insists

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central Constituency, has described as false claims by the Office of the Special Prosecutor that it has no jurisdiction to probe the fiasco surrounding the Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited.

 “Mr Amidu, the Special Prosecutor, peddled falsehood in making the claims the Office of the Special Prosecutor cannot probe the PDS scandal because it has no jurisdiction to investigate the matter which is unfortunate.

“How can the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu say that he has no jurisdiction to probe the allegations surrounding the Power Distribution Services (PDS) saga contained in a statement issued by the office on the matter following calls on him to probe same which is worrying,” Alhaji Fuseini fumed.

The Good Governance Advocacy Group Ghana (GGAGG) has served notice it will petition the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the Power Distribution Service brouhaha after the government suspended the deal over some infractions however, Mr Amidu maintained that he had no jurisdiction to probe the matter.

In a statement to the group that the Office has no jurisdiction to probe the infractions, said “the truth is that section 79 of Act 959 severely restricts the jurisdiction of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to fight corruption and corruption-related offences in Ghana unlike in other countries.

“Those countries are committed, dedicated and determined to and adhere to their obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, and the ECOWAS Protocol on the Fight against Corruption in their domestic anti-corruption legislations.

“The ruling of the High Court in the case of the Republic v Ayariga and 1 Other, July 17, 2019,  underscored the point I have made on remit of the office to limited extent based on lack of detailed particulars should be guide to the public, I annex scanned PDF of ruling as separate attachment for educational purposes,” it said.

But reacting to the claims by the Special Prosecutor, Alhaji Fuseini pointed out that “Mr Amidu should rather have told the citizenry he was monitoring the issues closely and will take the needed action when necessary, that was the assurance we were looking for and not to tell us you have no jurisdiction to investigative the issue.” -rainbowradioonline.com