You forced me out – Domelevo counters Akufo-Addo after long silence.

Former Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo has broken his silence on circumstances that led to his retirement from the Audit Service.

“My heart bleeds and I weep for Audit Service,” he succinctly stated in a virtual lecture on Thursday, July 1.

The lecture dubbed Domelevo Accountability Lectures was organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung on the theme: ‘Can A Public Officer Fight Corruption Without Political Backing?’

In explaining the circumstances that led to his retirement, Mr Domelevo stated: “Since the day the president forced me on leave and finally said I should go on compulsory retirement, I must say that all the people who were associated or identified to have a role to play in the audit of the Ministry of Finance which resulted in the Senior Minister’s issue or Kroll & Associates have all had their share”.

His expression comes against that of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in May, rejecting perceptions that he forced Mr Domelevo out of office.

“He was not forced out of office. He left office by the operation of law,” the President insisted on CNN.

In an exclusive interview with Zain Asher on Monday, May 3, President Akufo-Addo said: “There are laws in our country and the Auditor General, like me, should be some of the first to recognise the laws of our country.

“There’s a time for retiring which is prescribed by statute, not my making. If you are 60 years old, you are no longer supposed to be able to work in the public service. The Auditor General came to 60 years old and he had to retire.

“And so the expression – and I say so with the greatest respect – of forcing out. . .he was not forced out of office. He left office by the operation of law.”

The retirement of Mr Domelevo took a rather controversial turn because it came on the heels of a directive from the Presidency for him to go on accumulated leave.

There was a back-and-forth correspondence between him and the Presidency.

A letter written by Executive Secretary to the President Nana Asante Bediatuo on Wednesday, March 6 finally asked Mr Domelevo to retire based on records and documents made available by the Audit Service.

Source: 3