Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption lauds Domelevo

The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption, commended Mr Daniel Domelevo, the immediate past Auditor-General, for his distinguished service to the country as Auditor-General.

With regards to Mr Domelevo's forced retirement, Dr Kojo Asante, the Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD Ghana), speaking on the behalf of the Coalition at a press conference in Accra, said the facts and circumstances in their view, gave credence to their belief that Mr Domelevo was unfailingly targeted merely for pursuing his constitutional mandate.

Dr Asante, said Dr Domelevo had discharged the responsibilities of his office with exceptional dedication.

He claimed that the powers of Surcharge and Disallowance, which were attached to the Office of the Auditor-General but had never before been exercised in the history of the fourth Republic, was activated during Mr Domelevo’s tenure, “thanks to the decision of the Supreme Court in OccupyGhana versus Attorney-General (2017), which had been applied vigorously”.

Dr Asante said, “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 misappropriate funds,”

“For instance, in 2018, the Office of the Auditor-General, leveraging its surcharge and disallowance powers, successfully recovered a total of GHC67.32 million ($11.7) into Government’s coffers.”

He said under Mr Domelevo’s 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 it was required of them by Chapter 24 of the 1992 Constitution and the Public Office Holders (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification).

He said through this initiative, the Office of the Auditor-General was able to generate and maintain an up-to-date database of eligible public officers and to prompt them to make a declaration.

He said it had additionally simplified the process for declaring assets and disabilities.

Dr Asante said while the legal regulatory framework for asset declaration of public officers still requires significant reform, Auditor-General Domelevo deserves commendation for this initiative.

He said 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.

He said the only time, the discharge of this obligation was delayed was during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana in 2020.

He informed that this delay was also occasioned by the President’s directive to Auditor-General Domelevo to proceed on leave at a time when work on public accounts was still uncompleted in June 2020.

“Auditor-General Domelevo’s exemplary work has not gone unnoticed. The World Bank, in its 2020 Global Report titled ‘Enhancing Government Effectiveness and Transparency: The Fight Against Corruption’ (pp.308-310) signled Ghana’s Auditor-General for praise for the positive impact of his work on public accountability efforts in Ghana,” Dr Asante stated.

“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.”

He said generally, the Coalition acknowledged Mr Domelevo’s sense of purpose, determination, discipline and exceptional sense of duty.

“There are few places within the public service that you can have a meeting that starts on time and ends on time. Mr Domelevo is always on time and when you are late, he will speak plainly about it. He has inspired all of us and we wish him well in his retirement,” Dr Asante said.

On her part, Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative, said it was their hope that the next Auditor-General would have the audacity and tenacity to fight corruption.

Mr Edem Senanu, Co-Chair Citizens' Movement against Corruption (CMaC), announced that the CSOs Coalition as part of efforts to combat corruption in the country, would soon launch the Integrity Heroes Month to celebrate anti-corruption crusaders like Mr Domelevo.