He emphasised that the Auditor General is not in the best place in terms of mandate to administer assets and liability declaration to public office holders.
Mr Domelevo, expressing these concerns during a recent discussion on TV3, mentioned his regrets regarding the entrenchment of Article 286 and Article 550, which outline the responsibilities of the Auditor General in overseeing asset and liability declarations.
“One of the big regrets I have for Article 286 and 550 is the fact that the Act is entrenched, so modifying it will be very difficult. I personally think that the Auditor General is not well placed to be the person to administer assets and liability declaration. Except that people underrate the amount of work the auditor has to do by auditing the entire country and all the institutions.
“The audit alone is too much for one person and so to add asset declaration to it is to ensure that it doesn't receive the necessary attention that it requires. Because when you say you are auditor general, you must concern yourself with the main work of the Auditor General which is Auditing. So, to be able to administer assets and liability declaration effectively, I thought that should not have been the mandate of the Auditor General,” he explained.
The former Auditor General also noted that amending Article 286 and Article 550 would be a complex and costly process due to their entrenched nature.
He, therefore, suggested that if the responsibility for asset and liability declaration administration remains with the Auditor General, there should be improvements in the declaration process
“But it is his responsibility and unfortunately, like I said earlier on, it is entrenched and changing it is going to be a tall order or very expensive venture.
“Even if we want to keep it under the Auditor General as it is currently, at least we must ensure that the declaration is varied and I am happy it has been included in the 2022 Asset Declaration Bill. We must also ensure that people declare before they take their offices,” he added.
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Former Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo