Public sector irregularities: Akufo-Addo is part of the problem – Samson Ayenini

Leading Member of the civil society group Citizens Coalition, Samson Lardy Ayenini, has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of contributing to the inefficiencies and irregularities in the public sector.

Speaking to GhanaWeb on the sidelines of the Coalition's protest against the Auditor General on Monday, Lawyer Ayenini said the president hasn't helped the situation with the exercise of his powers to appoint and disappoint public officers.

He noted that while the president hounded the previous Auditor General who was delivering his mandate out of office, the president, on the other hand, is failing to demand efficiency from some of his appointees.

"The truth is that the president is part of this problem. You can't run away from it because he has the power to appoint and disappoint. Why was Domelevo chased out? People will tell you that he had reached his retirement. Cut the… I mean, cut it; that's crap. How many people…. Osafo Maafo, how old is he? Even the president, how old is he? What do you mean by someone has reached retirement age? How many people have they not extended their time of stay in public office?" he questioned.

According to him, the former Auditor General deserved an extension of his tenure instead of some other public officials still in office on a contract basis after attaining retirement age.

He noted, however, that Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo was kicked out of office for daring to surcharge a member of the government even though his ousting was attributed to retirement age.

"If anybody deserved an extension of their tenure in office, Domelevo is the one who deserved it. At least if for nothing, he issued over a hundred surcharges and got us GHC67 million back. That was within a very short time. Can you imagine Domelevo being there? He would have served our interest. Not because he touches Osafo Maafo, you want to kick him out, and then you throw sand in the eyes of the people. You think people are not discerning enough to see what is going on? So please, they should cut the crap," he said.

The protest on Monday, September 5, 2022, was against the Auditor General's failure to surcharge and disallow various financial irregularities captured in his annual reports since 2019.



"This Auditor General, the time he was acting, had issued a number of reports, and the president said he has done something that was unprecedented that even Domelevo didn't do. Why? Has he been appointed to issue just reports? You keep regurgitation to us that this has been missing, this is misused, this is stolen, and that is the end of it?" Lawyer Ayenini speaking about the cause for the protest stated.



The private legal practitioner emphasised that the financial irregularities reported by the A-G's office for 2021 alone amounted to about GHC17 billion, above what Ghana currently seeks from an IMF programme.

"I just gave the example to you; we are going to the IMF for GHC16 billion. This is GHC17 billion; we should just collect the money. Look at the conditionalities that come with going to the IMF," he told GhanaWeb's George Ayisi during the protest.



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