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General news for Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Source: GNA
2021-03-10
Former Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelovo
The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption commended Mr. Daniel Domelevo, the last Auditor General, for his distinguished service to the country as Auditor General.
Regarding Domelevo’s forced retirement, Dr. Kojo Asante, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD Ghana), speaking on behalf of the Coalition at a press conference in Accra, said that the facts and circumstances in his point of view gave credence to his belief that Mr. Domelevo was unfailingly targeted solely for complying with his constitutional mandate.
Dr. Asante said that Dr. Domelevo had fulfilled the responsibilities of his office with exceptional dedication.
It affirmed that the powers of Surcharge and Dismissal, assigned to the General Auditor but never before exercised in the history of the Fourth Republic, were activated during the mandate of Mr. Domelevo, “thanks to the decision of the Supreme Court of OccupyGhana against the Attorney General ( 2017), which had been vigorously applied ”.
Dr. Asante said: “Through his diligence and commitment to protecting the public purse, Auditor General Domelevo successfully recovered tens of millions of Cedis for the State in unauthorized spending or embezzlement.”
“For example, in 2018, the Office of the Auditor General, leveraging its surcharge and denial powers, successfully recovered a total of GHC67.32 million ($ 11.7) in government coffers.”
He said that under the leadership of Mr. Domelevo, the Office of the Auditor General implemented an electronic data system to handle statements made by public officials regarding their assets and liabilities, as required by Chapter 24 of the Constitution of 1992 and the Public Power. Office holders (Declaration of assets and disqualification).
He said that through this initiative, the Office of the Auditor General was able to generate and maintain an up-to-date database of eligible public officials and motivate them to make a statement.
He said it had also simplified the process for declaring assets and disabilities.
Dr. Asante said that while the legal regulatory framework for asset disclosure of public officials still requires significant reform, Auditor General Domelevo deserves praise for this initiative.
He said that under Mr. Domelevo’s leadership, the Auditor General’s Office consistently submitted audited public accounts to Parliament on time, as required by Article 187 (5) of the 1992 Constitution.
He said the only time compliance with this obligation was delayed was during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana in 2020.
He reported that this delay was also caused by the President’s directive to Auditor General Domelevo to proceed with the license at a time when work on public accounts was still incomplete in June 2020.
“The exemplary work of Auditor General Domelevo has not gone unnoticed. The World Bank, in its 2020 Global Report entitled ‘Improving Government Efficiency and Transparency: Fighting Corruption’ (pages 308-310), commended the Auditor General of Ghana for the positive impact of his work on the public accountability efforts in Ghana, ”said Dr. Asante.
“It is no wonder, therefore, that in 2019, Auditor General Domelevo received an award for ‘Integrity Personality of the Year’ at the first ever Ghana Integrity Awards organized by (the) Ghana Integrity Initiative, the local chapter of Transparency International “.
He said that overall, the Coalition recognized Mr. Domelevo’s sense of purpose, determination, discipline and exceptional sense of duty.
“There are few places in the public service where you can have a meeting that starts on time and ends on time. Mr. Domelevo is always on time and when he is late, he will speak frankly about it. He has inspired us all and we wish him the best in his retirement, ”said Dr. Asante.
For her part, Ms. Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, said they hoped the next Auditor General would have the boldness and tenacity to fight corruption.
Edem Senanu, Co-Chair of the Citizen Movement Against Corruption (CMaC), announced that the CSO Coalition as part of the efforts to combat corruption in the country, would soon launch the Month of the Heroes of Integrity to celebrate anti-corruption crusaders as Domelevo.
