The Coalition of Civil Society Organisation has mounted opposition against the dismissal of the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, March 10, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Center for Democratic Development, Ghana (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Asante, said the Coalition rejects the forced retirement of Mr Domelevo by President Akufo-Addo.
Adding the Coalition is disappointed and saddened by the development.
“The Coalition of Civil Society Organisation is extremely disappointed and saddened with this development, and especially with the manner in which the matter has been handled by the presidency acting in concert with the chairman of the Audit Service Board, Prof. Edward Dua-Agyemang,” he stated.
The Office of the Presidency in a letter dated March 3, 2021, instructed the Auditor-General to proceed on retirement after serving his accumulated leave of 169 days.
This was after the Audit Service Board on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, announced that the Auditor- General is deemed to have retired in June 2020 due to some anomalies in his personal records.
In a series of letters between the Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Prof. Edward Dua Agyeman and Mr Domelevo, the latter was asked to explain these anomalies or have some actions taken against him.
The Board alleged that records at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) provided by the Auditor-General indicated that his date of birth was 1960 when he joined the scheme on October 1, 1978.
The Board further alleges that his date of birth was later changed to June 1, 1961.
Dr Asante commending Mr Domelevo for his distinguished service as the Auditor-General at the press conference, highlighted some achievements of Mr Domelevo.
EXERCISE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL’S SURCHARGE AND DISALLOWANCE POWERS.
“Since his appointment, Auditor-General Domelevo has discharged the responsibilities of his office with exceptional dedication. The powers of surcharge and disallowance, which are attached to the office of the Auditor General but had never been before exercised in the history of the 4th Republic, was activated during his tenure, thanks to the decision of the supreme court in Occupy Ghana vs Auditor General (2017) and has been applied vigorously.
“Through his diligence and commitment to protecting the public purse, Auditor General Domelevo successfully recovered for the state tens of millions of cedis in unauthorized spending or misappropriated funds. For instance, in 2018,; the office of the Auditor General, leveraging it’s surcharge and disallowance powers, successfully recovered a total of GH¢67.32 million (about US $11.7 Million) into government coffers,” he disclosed.
IMPROVEMENT IN ASSET DECLARATION ADMINISTRATION.
“Under his leadership, the office of the Auditor-General implemented an electronic data system to handle declarations made by public officers with respect to their assets and liabilities, as required of them by chapter 24 of the 1992 constitution and the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) act, 1998 (Act 550). Through this initiative, the office is able to generate and maintain up-to-date database of eligible public officers and to prompt them to make declaration. It has additionally simplified the process for declaring assets and liabilities.
“While the legal regulatory framework for asset declaration of public officers still requires significant reform, Auditor General Domelevo deserves commendation for this initiative,” he added.
COMPLIANCE WITH TIMELINES FOR SUBMITTING ANNUAL AUDIT REPORTS TO PARLIAMENT.
“Under Mr. Domelevo’s leadership, the office of the Auditor-General consistently submitted audited public accounts to parliament on time, as required by Article 187(5) of the 1992 constitution. The only time, the discharge of this obligation was delayed was during the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic in Ghana in 2020. This delay was also occasioned by the president’s directive to the Auditor General Domelevo to proceed on leave at a time when work on public accounts were still uncompleted in June 2020.
“Auditor General Domelevo’s exemplary work has not gone unnoticed. The World Bank in it’s 2020 Global Report titled ‘Enhancing Government Effectiveness and Transparency: The Fight Against Corruption’ (pp. 308-310) singled out Ghana’s Auditor General for praise for the positive impact of his work on public accountability efforts in Ghana. It is no surprise, therefore, that in 2019, Auditor General Domelevo received an award for ‘Integrity Personality of the year’ at the maiden Ghana Integrity Awards organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative, the local chapter of Transparency International,” Dr. Kojo Asante added.
In view of this, Dr. Kojo Asante revealed that Mr. Daniel Domelevo had earlier petitioned the president Nana Akufo-Addo on claims of interference by the Audit Service Board Chairman, Prof. Edward Dua-Agyemang.
Amongst the claims were Procurement Manipulations, Interference with Audit processes, and Unlawful circulation of audit findings.
He again added that there had been series of the chronology of events to distract the office of the Auditor General Mr. Domelevo which includes alleged inconsistencies in the date of birth of Auditor General Mr. Domelevo, Surcharge of former senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, and 4 others in relation to Kroll Associates contracts among others.
Dr. Kojo Asante, also hinted that the CSO Coalition Against Corruption had petitioned the supreme court with regards to the matter.
“The Coalition noted with regret that the Supreme Court is yet to determinate the two (2) suits relating to the constitutionality of the Auditor General’s forced ‘accumulated leave’ by the president which were filed by Prof. Kwaku Asare and 9 CSO’s in July and October 2020 respectively. In part, this delay in hearing these time-sensitive cases has rendered some of the issues raises before the court moot and has allowed a grave breach of the constitution to fester, in our estimation.
“It is important for the Supreme Court to deal with these suits expeditiously to prevent any such actions by a future president. In the interest of promoting good governance, constitutionalism, and public accountability. We call on the Supreme Court to deal with these two suits as soon as possible,” he added.
