Domlelovlo Gets Anti-Corruption Coalition Support

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) is demanding immediate presidential intervention to deal with the ongoing spat between the Auditor-General and chairman of the Ghana Audit Service.

A member of the Coalition and Senior Research Fellow at Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante says Daniel Domlelovlo needs the support of the state to help deal with corruption.

“We should all do what we have to do in our various capacities to ensure he is supported to do his work because this is a very serious issue as it is a violation of the Constitution.

“Even if a normal auditor is auditing you, you cannot go and be interfering in their work otherwise they will not sign off,” he said.

His comments follow the Mr Domelevo petitioning the President over concerns that the board chairman, Prof. Edward Duah Agyemang was interfering in his work.

In a five-page petition dated July 27, 2018, sighted the Auditor-General requested the President to intervene in the “unlawful interferences” by the Board Chairman and others whom he said, are clothing themselves with powers to direct and control him unconstitutionally.

Daniel Domelevo, Auditor General
Domelevo further threatened not obey “any unlawful instructions” from the Board, including existing and new decisions that he says are inconsistent with the Constitution.

But the Board chairman of the Audit Service has dismissed claims of interference by the Auditor General.

According to Prof Duah Agyemang, he had already done an auditing of the public accounts as Auditor General before leaving the office in 2009 and did not understand why some auditors had gone back to audit those accounts.

“I called them to find out why they were going there to audit accounts from 2007 to 2015. But it turned out they were also going to audit some three contracts in 2017, so I asked them why they were doing that because the Auditor General was not in town,” he said.

Related: It's not interference, its intervention - Audit Service Chair to Domelevo claims

The President has instructed his Secretary, Nana Asante Bediatuo, to look into the petition and report the outcome of discussions between the two public officials.

This the CDD Senior Fellow is not impressed with these developments saying the profession needs independence.

“To the extent that the Board Chair is trying to interfere with the functions of the Auditor General, which is to audit public accounts, that is a violation of the Constitution.

Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Senior Fellow at CDD
“For me, there is not even the contestation as the Constitution is very clear on it. The only instance it says somebody can request for an additional audit to be made outside of what is set in the Constitution, the President has to do that in consultation with the Council of State and in pursuit of the public interest,” Dr Pumpuni Asante observed.

Also adding his voice in support of calls for no interference in the Auditor General's work is the founding president of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe.

In a post on Facebook, he appealed to the President to ward off any interference with Mr Domelewo’s work and called for support for Mr Domelevo to be given the space to do his work.

He wrote:
"Dear Mr President, if you look on for the Auditor-General to be harassed by the board and chair of the audit service, you would have killed the last pillar in the fight against graft and kissed your fight against procurement theft goodbye. I am hopeful you will intervene and push back those unjustly baying for the Auditor-General's blood. And frankly, I do not understand why the Daily Guide newspaper is on a mission to destroy the Auditor-General. Fortune Alimi my friend, what is going on? IMANI folks are not pleased at all.

I urge everyone to share this post and say #IstandbytheAuditorGeneral."