Emmanuel Osei Writes To Paul Adom Otchere: Be Corrected And Stop The Misinformation

While I will leave the logic of the legality and the illegality inherent in Mr. Domelevo’s “Leave of Office” to the legal fraternity, I cannot sit unconcern as an institutionalist and watch Mr. Paul Adom Otchere misinformed Ghanaians on the workings of institutions from his privileged televised position. It’s instructive that, to engage in informed and unbiased discussion, one must apply him/herself to the course of knowledge before coming to the table of men for a discussion.

Mr. Domelevo sought to act against the ‘Kinship logic’ where “organizations are there to meet the personal needs of its management and staff” and political actors who remotely control it. In other words, organizations operating under the ‘Kinship logic’ always serve the ‘personal fiefdoms’ of civil servants. This was the problem/culture the auditor general had to confront in the case of Mr. Osafo Marfo and the Kroll Associate issue etc. In the case of Zambia during the presidency of Mr. Frederick Chiluba between 1991 and 2001, Ms. Anna Chifungula (Auditor General 2003- ) citing Hatchard (2014, p. 72) avowed that the then auditor general, “Failed properly to exercise his duties or alternatively chose not to exercise the duties required of him probably because of the intimidatory nature of Chungu [who was the Director General of the Zambian Security Services at that time] and the unwillingness of the Auditor General to challenge him and thus the president”. Such unwillingness it’s believed was out of fears. These situations according to Hathaway (p. 94) during the Chiluba administration, in which the former Auditor General was seen as acting at the behest of the President and the Director General of the Zambian Security Services, are consistent with the kinship logic, in which there was informal control through fear of reprisals or expectations of reciprocal exchanges. This led to a host of Zambian politicians and public offers engaging in acts of corruption with impunity with no regards to the law. Note,

Note; the appointment into office of Ms. Anna Chifungula (Auditor General of Zambian 2003- ) who helped revolutionized, professionalized and placed the institution of the office of the Zambian Auditor General and the Supreme Audit Institute of Zambia on a strong footing in asserting its independence was not done in a vacuum. Not only was she appointed because of her rich and solid professional record (Acting Secretary of the Treasury of Ministry of Finance 2002-2003, Controller of Internal Audits Ministry of Finance 1997-2002 etc.), but also due to her “bold character” according to Mr. Nevers Mumba who was the Vice President of Zambia (2003-2004) during that time. Former Vice President Nevers Mumba described Chifungula as “a no-nonsense auditor general, because she doesn’t fear anyone”. Which according to Mumba, was what the government needed to deal with corruption at that time. And this is the character Mr. Daniel Domelevo possess and Ghana dearly needs in strengthening the Ghana Audit Service and protecting its public purse. It took the courage of a single woman, and of course with the help of supporting staff and government to revolutionize the institution of the office of the Zambian Auditor General.

It is therefore, sinful for Mr. Paul Adom Otchere to sit in that privileged media position and exhibit the highest level of uninformed preponderance. You can have all the laws and enactments establishing institutions and detailing their source of independence, but without strong men/women, who have the courage and are ready to stand against the tides (private and political), endure and assert the independence of their office, as was done by Mr. Domelevo, the aphorism of “Africa needs strong institutions and not strong men” will always be a pipe dream. To take what former USA President Barrack Obama said on face value, exposes your weakness in institutional building, analysis and understandings.

This is the point Civil Societies in Ghana were and are still making.

Emmanuel Osei

Director of Policy and Political Affairs

Party Membership Management Consultant

University of Bergen, Norway