Daniel Domelovo
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Akufo-Addo government of seeing the Auditor General, Mr Daniel Domelovo, as a threat to exposing corruption under the regime.
For this reason, the NDC, said the NPP government, is taking steps to remove the Auditor General from office, in order to cover up for its agenda for state capture.
The NDC, has therefore, called on Ghanaians to rise up against the attempt by the Akufo-Addo administration to remove Mr Domelovo by speaking out against the move.
At a press conference on Monday, the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said the Auditor General has shown commitment and needs to be supported by all Ghanaians in fighting corruption.
Currently, the Auditor General, is being investigated by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) for purchasing of vehicles, but according to the NDC it is a move to silence him, because of his boldness at going after the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo over a $1million payment to a British Company called Kroll.
“What is being presented as a routine investigation into allegations of wrongdoing is in fact an attempt to gag the Auditor-General and subsequently remove him from office because of his uncompromising stance in the fight against corruption. Put more accurately, this EOCO investigation is designed as retribution against Mr Dumelovo because he has been on the tail of Yaw Osafo Marfo over the latter’s involvement in the massive corruption scandal under which $ 1 million was paid to Kroll Associates, a UK company for no work done”, he said.
“The Auditor-General, in a letter dated September 24, 2019, addressed to the Senior Minister, outlined reasons why the Senior Minister’s payment to Kroll Associates was to be disallowed and have him surcharged for the amount of Gh¢4,869,421.87, the equivalent of US$1,031,460.50 being payment to Kroll Associates for a contract awarded in September, 2017 with the effective date of 13th February, 2017”, he recalled.
“The Akufo-Addo administration on 26th September, 2017 signed a contract with Kroll Associates for some professional services. The contract was signed on behalf of the Government by Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo the Senior Minister. The contract was to take effect from February 2017. This particular contract was curiously awarded to Kroll Associates based on an expression of interest by the company”, he pointed out.
“A letter dated 14th November, 2017 and addressed to the Minister for National Security, showed sole sourcing approval by the PPA . This purported approval went to the National Security Council Secretariat and not the Senior Minister. We must note that the Senior Minister, Mr Osafo Marfo, is not a member of the National Security Council," he revealed.
According to NDC, information available to them showsthat as part of the larger plot to remove the Auditor General from office, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), would petition the President in the coming days for the removal of the Auditor-General instead of the prosecution of the real culprits of corruption such as the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo.
“The object of all this is to relieve the pressure mounted on Yaw Osarfo Marfo, over his involvement in this brazen act of corruption in the $1 million Kroll Scandal and prevent Mr Dumelovo from doing further work that will shed more light on the deep-seated corruption the President is supervising”, he claimed.
This behavior according to the NDC has defeated Akufo-Addo’s promise of protecting the public purse.
He further accused President Akufo-Addo of fighting constitutional bodies and state institutions, which are pursuing the fight against corruption contrary to his oath of office.
“The witch-hunt of Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo, reveals deep seated governmental complicity in the systematic rape of the resources entrusted into the care of President Akufo-Addo”, he stressed.
“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”, he stressed.
