The opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) will later today hold media briefing on the alleged plots by government to remove the Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo from office.
This comes on the back of the ongoing investigations into alleged public procurement infractions at the Audit Service.
Some CSOs have described the investigations currently being conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) as an attempt “to teach the Auditor General a lesson.”
The current A-G was appointed by former President, John Dramani Mahama on December 23, 2016.
In his appointment letter back in 2016, Mr. Domelovo was reminded of the security of his tenure and was referred to provisions of Article 146 of the 1992 constitution by former President John Mahama relating to the removal from office of a Justice of the superior court of Justice, which same applied to him.
Article 146(1) of the 1992 Constitution states,“ A Justice of the Superior Court or Chairman of the Regional Tribunal shall be not be removed from office except for stated misbehavior or incompetence or on grounds of inability to perform the functions of his/her office arising from infirmity of body or mind”.
In spite of that, the opposition NDC believes there is a ploy by the Akufo-Addo government to unjustifiably remove the Auditor General without any wrongdoing.
Petition
A private citizen petitioned EOCO, claiming, among others, that the Audit Service had breached the Procurement Law, Act 663, in the procurement of vehicles worth almost GH¢6.2 million.
The petitioner requested EOCO to determine whether proper procedures were followed by the Entity Tender Committee (ETC) in procuring the vehicles and recommend appropriate sanctions in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, where necessary.
On November 14, 2019, Mr Domelevo was invited by EOCO.
He gave a statement and was cautioned and granted bail by the investigative body for further investigations into the allegation.
However, on November 18, 2019, the Auditor-General wrote to EOCO to stop probing him and his outfit, with the argument that the investigative body had no power to do so.
He, consequently, demanded an unqualified apology from the anti-graft state agency within five working days from the date of the receipt of the letter.
In his response, the Executive Director of EOCO, Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr. Frank Adu-Poku (retd), told the Daily Graphic that the Auditor-General could not put his own interpretation on the law and if he had any issues he should go to court for redress.
Suit
On November 20, 2019, Mr Domelevo filed a suit at the Accra High Court with a case that EOCO had no legal mandate to investigate alleged procurement breaches against him, any official of the Audit Service, the service itself or any public official or public institution.
According to him, it is the OSP that had the power to investigate such alleged offences.
Based on his contention, the Auditor-General has described the investigation by EOCO as “wrongful, illegal, capricious and null and void”.
He, therefore, wants the court to declare the investigations by EOCO as illegal and order a halt to the investigations.
Source: kasapafmonline.com