Retiring Domelevo sends wrong signals about you - CSOs to Akufo-Addo

Civil Society groups in the country have criticised President Akufo-Addo over his decision to retire Auditor General Daniel Domelevo.

According to the CSO, the move by the president is inimical to the fight against the corruption menace in the country.

“The Coalition is extremely disappointed about this development, especially the manner in which the matter has been handled by the Presidency acting in concert with the Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Prof. Edward Dua Agyemang. The forced retirement of a constitutionally independent Auditor General who has excelled in his role since assuming office—recovering millions of cedis for the State leveraging his surcharge and disallowances powers—is not only constitutionally perverse, but it sends the wrong signals about the Nana Addo-led government’s commitment to fighting corruption and upholding the rule of law.

“Further, this action by the Office of the President practically eviscerates the independence of the Office of the Auditor General and other independent constitutional bodies,” a statement by the CSOs said Friday.

The statement also expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court over the delay in ruling on their suit over the legality or otherwise of the presidential directive which asked the Auditor-General to proceed on leave last year.

“The Coalition also notes with regret that the Supreme Court is yet to determine two (2) suits relating to the constitutionality of the Auditor-General’s forced ‘accumulated leave’ by the President which were filed by Professor Kwaku Asare and nine (9) CSOs in July and October 2020 respectively. In part, this unexplained delay in hearing these time-sensitive cases has rendered some of the issues raised before the court moot and has allowed a grave breach of the Constitution to fester, in our estimation”.

President Akufo-Addo says documents available to him suggest that Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo has reached his retirement age.

The development comes in the wake of the standoff between the Auditor-General and the Audit Service board over his nationality and date of birth as he prepared to resume work after his compulsory leave.

“The attention of the President of the Republic has been drawn to records and documents made available to this Office by the Audit Service, that indicate that your date of birth is 1st June 1960, and that in accordance with article 199 (1) of the Constitution, your date of retirement as Auditor-General was 1st June 2020.

“Based on this information, the President is of the view that you have formally left office,” a statement from the presidency said Wednesday night.