The board chairman of the Audit Service, Dr Edward Duah Agyemang, has said the board is fed up with the Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo, who always resorts to the media for attention.
The president Nana Akufo-Addo has ordered Mr. Domelevo to proceed on leave, spanning over 150 days and the keys to his office have been changed to that effect.
Dr. Duah-Agyemang said the locks were changed for security reasons.
“What’s this with Mr. Domelevo always running to the media. Is he a baby?” the board chair asked in an interview on Accra-based Starr FM.
He added: “We are fed up with Domelevo always going to the media. He can go wherever he wants to. When Mr. Domelevo left on the 1st of July, the board felt there was the need to secure his office so the locks were changed and the keys were left where they belong.”
Meanwhile, anti-Corruption campaigner Vitus Azeem says the decision by the Audit Service Board to change the locks to the office of the Auditor-General is unfortunate.
“It’s a bad perception. Coming from a president who said he was going to fight corruption and was tagged incorruptible by his people but unfortunately, personal interest supersedes national interest. But the way and manner Mr. Domelevo was asked to proceed on leave showed they want him out of the way and they are having a field day. For them to change locks to Mr. Domelevo’s office is very unfortunate. I don’t think it’s the best approach and it’s a dent on the image of the A-G’s office,” he told the same network.
Petition
President Akufo-Addo has served notice to petitioners and civil society organisations (CSOs) pushing for the recall of the Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo, from leave to forget it.
Akufo-Addo directed the chief government auditor to proceed on leave effective July 1, 2020, igniting pressure from different sectors of society on him to recall the Auditor-General from his over 150 days leave.
“Fellow Ghanaians, it is with sadness, disappointment and extreme concern that we come to you today to share our thoughts on the decision taken by the President last Monday, 29. June, 2020, directing the Auditor General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo to take his alleged ‘accumulated leave’ of 167 days, beginning July 1, 2020,” The Coalition of Civil Society groups in Ghana said in a statement.
The presidency has also been petitioned by two Ghanaians abroad to rescind the decision, however, in a response the former said it considered several factors before executing the order.
“The president is unable to grant the request in your petition,” secretary to the president, Nana Bediatuo Asante, said in his reply to the petitioners.
Meanwhile, Pressure Group, OccupyGhana, has added its voice to calls by civil society organisations (CSOs) for President Akufo-Addo to reverse the directive.
“When the history of the office of the Auditor-General is written, the appointment (and even the timing and circumstances of it), the work of the current Auditor-General and the phenomenal financial and other support that this government gave to his office, should be what are highlighted. That story should not end with a final paragraph that says in the twilight of his public service, the Auditor-General was subjected to an unconstitutional removal from office dressed up as an enforced accumulated leave,” OccupyGhana said in a statement.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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