The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations Against Corruption says it is deeply saddened about what it describes as purposeful, how the President handled the matter of former Auditor General, Mr Daniel Yao Domelevo.
The group outlined what it said are facts and circumstances surrounding Mr. Domelevo’s forced retirement which they said gives credence to believe that he was unfairly targeted merely for pursuing his constitutional mandate.
They said this at a press conference organized today, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at the office of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development.
The group detailing their facts outlined some achievements of the former Auditor General including the exercising of his power to surcharge and disallow payments.
According to the group, that act alone saved the country tens of millions of cedis in unauthorized spending or misappropriated funds.
Again, the group lauded Mr. Domelevo for improving the Asset Declaration by state officials under his tenure as well as his compliance with submitting annual audit reports to Parliament.
Having said that, the CSOs stated how questions regarding Mr Domelevo’s date of birth which formed the basis for the President to ask him to proceed on his retirement was handled by the President was not in tandem with fairness, reason, and compliance with due process of law.
This the group said further confirms that the coordinated actions of the Office of the President and the Audit Service Board Chair were targeted.
The group outlined that the issue started as far back as around July 27, 2018, when Mr Domelevo wrote to the President to complain about interference in his work by the Audit Service Board Chair Prof. Edward Dua-Agyemang.
Among other things, the Auditor General alleged that Mr Dua-Agyemang was undermining his authority through procurement manipulations, interference with audit processes, and unlawful circulation of audit findings.
The Audit Service Board following this on August 6, 2021, wrote to the President reporting the conduct of the Auditor General in which several allegations including refusal to notify the board of his official trips abroad, penchant to making statements that were sometimes embarrassing and inimical to the safety of the Audit Service staff, publication and distribution of Audit Reports without recourse to the Board as well as lack of accountability and transparency were leveled against him.
Despite the President instructing his secretary to look into Mr Domelevo’s complaints, the CSOs noted that nothing has been heard of the outcome since.
Read their full statements below:
