Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, has said the president’s order forcing the Auditor-General to proceed on leave has a confusing message anti-corruption movement both home and abroad.
Dr Akwetey said the movement is confused because while the directive to Daniel Domelevo was harsh and untenable, President Nana Akufo-Addo has shown a real commitment to the fight against corruption.
“Our appeal to the President is that people are a bit confused and demoralised…the basis for the President’s decision could be reviewed and Mr Domelevo called to work,” he urged the Jubilee House.
He made this appeal on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at a press conference organised by some Civil Society Organisations over the directive to Mr Domelevo.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, June 29, 2020, asked Daniel Yaw Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave of 123 days starting Wednesday, July 1, 2020.
But the Office of the President later added 44 more working days to the 132 annual leave days after Mr. Domelevo, in a letter to the Presidency, urged Akufo-Addo to reconsider the directive, claiming that it breaches the labour law and is unconstitutional.
Mr. Domelevo had made use of nine out of his 132 annual leave days since assuming office in December 2016.
The directive which explained that the president's decision was based on sections 20 (1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), asked Mr Domelevo to hand over to the Deputy Auditor-General, Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, all matters relating to his office until his return from leave.
On the back of that IDEG, the Ghana Integrity Initiate (GII), the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and a host of other notable CSOs in Ghana have joined forces to launch the #Bringbackdomelevo campaign.
They hope to pressure the President to change his mind about the widely criticised move.
Dr Akwetey said the president has always demonstrated that he is against corruption and urged him to listen to the Coalition of CSOs and bring back Mr Domelevo.
At the launch of the campaign on Tuesday, Dr Kojo Asante, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at CDD-Ghana said the Coalition is confident that the President will listen to their call and reconsider his proceed-on-leave directive.
“In this regard, we are calling on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in our campaign to #BringBackDomelevo beginning today,” he said.
He added: As a result of the gravity of the constitutional issues raised by this action, we have to at some point apply to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the President’s powers in respect of’ independent governance institutions.
“Third, we are fully aware that one of the issues that deepened the conflict between the Auditor General and the Board is the Kroll Associates case in which the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo and four other officials of the Finance Ministry have been surcharged by the Auditor General, The Senior Minister has resorted to court action to clear his name.
“We will all be watching closely how the matter is being handled in the temporary absence of the Auditor General. We are aware per the Supreme Court’s instructions the documents requested by the Auditor General has now been inspected and the parties are due to return to court.
“We will follow the process closely. Lastly, it is important to acknowledge the diligent work of the Audit Service for many years. It has been one of the performing public institutions over the years. Mr Domelevo’s leadership has taken it to another level.”
Executive Director of IDEG, Dr Emmanuel Akwetey