One of the leading members of pressure group OccupyGhana, Ace Annan Ankomah, has thrown his weight behind the Auditor-General's call for prosecutorial powers to fight corruption within the public service.
The legal practitioner's declaration follows Mr Daniel Domelevo's application to the Attorney-General to grant him the powers to prosecute those indicted in the annual Auditor-General's report often riddled with repetitive stories of mismanagement.
"If the Attorney-General gives me a fiat which I have applied for, you will see me in action", the tough-talking Domelevo said.
However, Ace suggested Domelevo be given ample time, specifically a year, to fight corruption because his office needed the adequate resources to bring to book some accountants within the public service, faulted for double payments made for goods and services procured in the public and civil services.
The Legal Practitioner, in an interview with Kwabena Kyenkyenhene Boateng, host of '21 minutes with KKB’ blamed the lack of resources on the structure of Ghana’s political system. He posited that the system had conspired to provide regulatory bodies, which have been set-up to fight against corruption, with insufficient resources.
“The system has conspired for the office of the Attorney General to be under-resourced. For CHRAJ to be under-resourced. For EOCO to be under-resourced so they can’t do the work. It is deliberate. The political system makes sure that the people who will make them responsible do not have enough to work with. CHRAJ is swarmed with matters. Go to the Attorney General’s office- we are literally killing those Lawyers. So when they see these other cases they bulk at them because it is too much.”
“Maybe that is why we have the office of the Special Prosecutor…maybe that is why the Auditor-General is asking for prosecutorial powers,” he added.
Quizzed on whether the offices of the Special Prosecutor and the Auditor-General would not cause the duplication of roles, Managing partner at Bentsil-Entsil, Letsa and Ankomah answered, “duplication in itself can be negative”, explaining that “sometimes duplicate forms are filled because they are going to different places.”
“If the resource exists is it duplication? The guy has six lawyers in the Auditor-General department. His auditors go out there and bring the report. He is filing the disallowance and surcharge. People are appealing against his disallowance and surcharge and his Lawyers are in court. He says you know what, what does it take to file a criminal case. Every Lawyer that has been to the law school has drafted a chat sheet before. They know what it means not for a chat sheet to be bad for duplicity.”
The outspoken Lawyer, seemingly confident in the Auditor-General’s competence, reiterated “What does it take? We have the evidence here and working in my office they probably understand the thing better than the Lawyer sitting at the attorney general department. They can handle the cases better because they know it. They work with the auditors so empower them to do it.”
In a recent development, Domelevo made no secret of his delight at a Supreme Court judgment that ordered his department to disallow and surcharge persons who abuse public funds. He assured that his efforts are bearing fruits and is not necessarily in dire need of financial help.
Despite the above claims by Daniel Domelevo, Ace Ankomah recommended that instead of the four Lawyers he (Domelevo) has, the Auditor-General should employ between six to ten Lawyers who should be certified under the Law Officers Act to assist in the prosecution of offenders.
“I think he has about four Lawyers. He should hire about 6-10 Lawyers. Each of them should be authorized under the Law Officers Act. He says he has the people to do it. I don’t need any finances to do it. I look at my Lawyers, they have enough time to do this. Talk is cheap if it is not paid for. He says I want walk my talk so try him? Give him the mandate for a year. He says I want to do it. I have the means to do it. You don’t have to pay an extra dime for this to happen. I will do it myself.” The OccupyGhana lead member averred.
