NPP’s AFAG to petition govt over impeachment of Domelevo – NDC alleges

The main opposition NDC has accused the government of machinations to get the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo removed from Office at all cost.

Addressing a press conference Monday, the General Secretary of the NDC said the NPP government has engineered various plans to oust Mr. Domelevo including using AFAG, to issue a petition to the President on the matter in the coming days.

“The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), an NPP offshoot which has been used to carry out this vendetta, would petition the President in the coming days for the removal of the Auditor-General,” the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said.

The scribe said an invitation to Mr Domelevo by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) was the beginning of the grand scheme to get him out of office.

He added: "There is an orchestration to have a puppet smuggled into the Auditor-General’s office as has been done to other otherwise independent public institutions since the assumption of power by the Akufo- Addo government. This must be resisted if our nation must move forward with any hope of fighting corruption in our public institutions".

Mr Asiedu Nketiah however, demanded an immediate cessation of the alleged hostile victimization of Mr. Dumelovo by the Akufo-Addo government.

He said: "Rather than hounding Mr. Dumelovo, we are by this press conference calling on President Akuffo Addo to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo for the breaches of the Public Procurement Act.



This comes on the back of the ongoing investigations into alleged public procurement infractions at the Audit Service.

Some CSOs have described the investigations currently being conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) as an attempt “to teach the Auditor General a lesson.”

Petition

A private citizen petitioned EOCO, claiming, among others, that the Audit Service had breached the Procurement Law, Act 663, in the procurement of vehicles worth almost GH¢6.2 million.

The petitioner requested EOCO to determine whether proper procedures were followed by the Entity Tender Committee (ETC) in procuring the vehicles and recommend appropriate sanctions in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, where necessary.

On November 14, 2019, Mr. Domelevo was invited by EOCO.

He gave a statement and was cautioned and granted bail by the investigative body for further investigations into the allegation.

However, on November 18, 2019, the Auditor-General wrote to EOCO to stop probing him and his outfit, with the argument that the investigative body had no power to do so.

He, consequently, demanded an unqualified apology from the anti-graft state agency within five working days from the date of the receipt of the letter.

In his response, the Executive Director of EOCO, Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Frank Adu-Poku (retd), told the Daily Graphic that the Auditor-General could not put his own interpretation on the law and if he had any issues he should go to court for redress.

Suit

On November 20, 2019, Mr Domelevo filed a suit at the Accra High Court with a case that EOCO had no legal mandate to investigate alleged procurement breaches against him, any official of the Audit Service, the service itself or any public official or public institution.

According to him, it is the OSP that had the power to investigate such alleged offences.

Based on his contention, the Auditor-General has described the investigation by EOCO as “wrongful, illegal, capricious and null and void”.

He, therefore, wants the court to declare the investigations by EOCO as illegal and order a halt to the investigations.