Domelevo owed allegiance to Mahama not Ghana – President Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has questioned former President John Mahama’s reasons for appointing Daniel Yaw Domelevo as Auditor-General in 2016.

In a statement justifying his decision to force Domelevo to proceed on retirement, President Akufo-Addo suspected that the appointment of Domelevo was to pursue an agenda against his government.

He noted that initially, Domelevo was not expected to be Auditor-General but he was rushed to attain the post after John Mahama lost the election.

“The fact is that Mr. Domelevo was appointed on the eve of the exit from office of His Excellency, former President Mahama. He was appointed on 30th December, 2016, after former President Mahama had overwhelmingly lost the mandate of the people of Ghana to govern in the presidential and parliamentary elections of 7th December, 2016.

“Stranger still is the fact that Mr. Domelevo's appointment process was initiated on 13th December, 2016, a few days after this emphatic rejection. The appointment process for Mr. Domelevo was rushed through the Council of State, to enable former President Mahama appoint Mr. Domelevo before leaving office.

“A reasonable and objective conclusion was that, having lost the mandate to govern, former President Mahama appointed Mr. Domelevo to office, knowing very well that President Akufo-Addo would be sworn into office in a few days, to pursue a particular agenda.

“It is also clear that the consultation process was done before the December 7, 2016 elections. Mr. Domelevo was not the intended Auditor-General prior to the election of December 7, 2016. Dr. Felix Kwame Aveh was the Auditor-General that former President Mahama intended to appoint if he had won the election of December 7, 2016. But he lost the election.

“ Indeed, in notifying the Council of State of the reason why former President Mahama was seeking to replace Dr. Aveh, the then Chief of Staff stated that "the change is as a result of some unforeseen developments." It is fair to conclude that the "unforeseen development" was no other development but the painful loss of the election of December 7, 2016.

“After losing the election, it became necessary for former President Mahama to change his nomination for Auditor-General, with the sole aim of saddling the then President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, with an Auditor-General, whose allegiance was to former President Mahama, instead of the nation”.

President Akufo-Addo said that despite these observations, his administration ensured that the Office of the Auditor-General was adequately resourced.

“The President has never held the view that the work of Mr. Domelevo was embarrassing his government. On the contrary, the President has always been a strong advocate for the Office of the Auditor-General because he believes the work of the Auditor-General is necessary for ensuring that the country's financial resources are used prudently, and the public purse is protected.

“As a matter of fact, and of public knowledge, the President ensured that Mr. Domelevo was provided the necessary resources required for the efficient running of the Audit Service, because the President considered the work of the Audit Service a critical part of good governance”.