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General news for Saturday, March 6, 2021
Source: Starr FM
2021-03-06
President Nana Akufo-Addo
Civil society groups in the country have criticized President Akufo-Addo for his decision to retire Auditor General Daniel Domelevo.
According to the OSC, the president’s measure is contrary to the fight against the threat of corruption in the country.
“The Coalition is extremely disappointed by this development, especially by the way the Presidency has handled the matter in conjunction with the Chairman of the Audit Services Board, Prof. Edward Dua Agyemang. The forced retirement of a constitutionally independent Auditor General who has excelled in his role since he took office – recovering millions of cedis for the State by taking advantage of its powers of surcharges and disavowals – is not only constitutionally perverse, but sends the wrong signals about the Nana Addo- led the government’s commitment to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law.
“Furthermore, this action by the Office of the President virtually eviscerates the independence of the Office of the Auditor General and other independent constitutional bodies,” a CSO statement said Friday.
The statement also expressed his disappointment in the Supreme Court at the delay in resolving his claim on the legality or not of the presidential directive that requested the Auditor General to proceed with leave last year.
“The Coalition also notes with regret that the Supreme Court has yet to determine two (2) lawsuits related to the constitutionality of the President’s enforced ‘cumulative license’ of the Auditor General, which were brought by Professor Kwaku Asare and nine (9 ) OSC in July and October 2020 respectively. In part, this inexplicable delay in hearing these urgent cases has rendered some of the issues raised in court irrelevant and has allowed a serious violation of the Constitution to escalate, in our opinion. “
President Akufo-Addo says the documents at his disposal suggest that Auditor General Daniel Yao Domelevo has reached retirement age.
The development comes as a result of the confrontation 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 records and documents made available to this Office by the Audit Service have been brought to the attention of the President of the Republic, which indicate that his date of birth is June 1, 1960, and that in accordance with article 199 (1) of the Constitution, his retirement date as Auditor General was June 1, 2020.
“Based on this information, the president is of the opinion that you have formally stepped down from office,” said a presidential statement Wednesday night.
