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The mind-boggling saga surrounding recently retired Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo and the Audit Service Commission took an even more dramatic turn when on March 19 the Presidency issued a 21-page ‘open letter’ telling the story of the president of history.
The issues at issue are Mr. Domelevo’s “forced leave”, his age and “forced retirement”.
Signed by President Nana Akufo-Addo’s Secretary Nana Bediatuo Asante, the letter followed a press conference by the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption, held on March 10, 2021.
The open letter, totaling 21 pages, is a read that takes time. Nonetheless, in my opinion, it is well worth the time spent on this seemingly simple question, but quite complex as the letter reveals.
After reading it, my immediate question was: What did President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo do wrong to deserve condemnation by some civil society organizations (CSOs)?
Take, for example, the lightning and stunning attack by Professor Gyimah-Boadi, widely reported in the media under headlines such as “Akufo-Addo’s Anti-Corruption Credibility in Shreds”.
On March 11, 2021, Ghanaweb reported:
Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, co-founder of Afrobarometer, an anti-corruption report, cast doubts on President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to the fight against corruption following his dismissal of the auditor general Daniel Yao (sic) Domelevo.
“As for the president’s credibility in the fight against corruption, I fear that it is in tatters. He’s been in tatters for some time, but it puts a nail in the coffin, ”Professor Gyimah-Boadi told Citi TV in a report watched by Ghanaweb.
“The one who tries to fight corruption is the one who is persecuted and kicked out of office,” Gyimah-Boadi added.
He noted that Domelevo has been forced to retire prematurely from the civil service because the executive increasingly seems “to have difficulty working with (the heads) of institutions that it has not appointed”.
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Unfortunately, due to space constraints, the following are only excerpts from the open letter which has been marked for the attention of Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, described as spokesperson for the Coalition.
THE EXTRACTS:
The account (about the retirement of the former auditor general) centers on unsubstantiated allegations that the government had targeted Mr. Domelevo and wanted him to resign at all costs.
This account was based on untruths, a deliberate misinterpretation of the facts, and a complete disregard for the rule of law.
Circumstances surrounding his appointment
Mr. Domelevo was appointed on the eve of the departure of His Excellency former President Mahama.
He was appointed on December 30, 2016, after former President Mahama massively lost the mandate of the Ghanaian people to rule in the presidential and legislative elections on December 7, 2016.
Prior to the December 7, 2016 election. Dr. Felix Kwame Aveh was the Auditor General that former President Mahama intended to appoint if he had won the December 7, 2016 election.
After losing the election, it became necessary for former President Mahama to change his appointment, for the sole purpose of giving then-President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo an auditor general, whose allegiance was to former President Mahama, instead of the nation.
It should be noted that Mr. Domelevo, until now, was not an auditor and had not been engaged in the audit.
The President ensured that Mr. Domelevo had the necessary resources for the proper functioning of the Audit Service.
It was therefore not surprising to hear Mr Domelevo praise these efforts of the President at the Occupy Ghana anniversary conference held at the British Council on June 14, 2019, where he emphatically stated that he had been immensely supported by the President. .
This cannot be the position of a government which had targeted Mr. Domelevo and wanted him at all costs.
Accumulated leave
In a letter of July 3, 2020, Mr. Domelevo was assured by the President that the decision to take his annual leave was not due to bad faith.
On the contrary, given the deterioration of the relationship between the Audit Service Committee and Mr. Domelevo, the Chairman, as the appointing authority, was the only person who could ask Mr. Domelevo to take his accumulated leave, what he did.
We note, however, that the question of whether the President has the power to request the Auditor General to proceed on accumulated leave is pending before the courts and we await their views.
Retirement of Mr. Domelevo
It is important to fully expose the disparities and anomalies that have been brought to the attention of the President:
Of all the official documents concerning Mr. Domelevo, there are two dates of birth: June 1, 1960 and June 1, 1961; and three hometowns: Agbatofe, Ada and Kumasi.
The above inconsistencies are what the Accounts Committee sought to clarify with Mr. Domelevo, who declined to attend an) extraordinary Council meeting (to which he was invited) and reminded the Committee that it was not it was not his appointing authority.
With regard to SSNIT, Mr. Domelevo’s date of birth is June 1, 1960 and his retirement date was June 1, 2020.
Indeed, by filling out the application form for old age and invalidity pension (SS-B1) on June 9, 2017, Mr Domelevo indicated his date of birth as June 1, 1960, signed and printed with his thumb.
The President’s Office, through its investigations, also discovered that Mr. Domelevo had not asked the Director General of SSNIT to correct the error of his date of birth, if indeed it was a real one. error.
Mr. Domelevo was legally bound to retire on June 1, 2020.
He was not fired and his appointment was not canceled; he retired as of right because he had reached the compulsory retirement age of 60 years.
It is therefore very disappointing to hear such a very prominent and otherwise distinguished member of civil society making such vague and thoughtless statements (disregarding) the president’s credibility in the fight against corruption (crusade).
Conclusion
Mr. Domelevo has not been targeted or removed from office.
When President Akufo-Addo took office, he worked and continues to work with all constitutional office holders appointed by his predecessor, former President Mahama.
The very idea that despite clear legal requirements, the President should not have acted, due to Mr. Domelevo’s allegedly laudable past work, is in itself corrupt and should not be accepted under any circumstances.
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Following the open letter, I still do not understand the animosity that CSOs have shown against the President in this matter.
If there is a different set of data available to CSOs, which explains their position, then surely they owe it to the rest of us to make those details known.
In addition, two nagging questions: Having discovered the error in his date of birth, why did Mr. Domelevo not change the formal way, as required by SSNIT regulations?
And is it true that public servants should not retire because they are doing their job well?
In the absence of different and conflicting information from the detailed explanations in the open letter, one thing is clear to me: Professor Gyimah-Boadi and others were not fair and owe President Akufo-Addo an apology.
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