Akufo-Addo sends strong message to CSOs over Domelevo’s ‘forced’ retirement

President Nana Akufo-Addo has written a 21-page open letter to Civil Society Organisations in the country, who have accused him of hounding Daniel Domelevo out of office as Auditor-General.

“He was not targeted or chased out of office as has been wrongfully suggested in the public domain,” the statement indicated.

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations Against Corruption had said that the circumstances surrounding the decision to force Mr Domelevo into retirement appeared to suggest that the government had lost interest in fighting corruption.

Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) at a press conference on March 10, said the sudden retirement of Mr Domelevo is not in accordance with the Constitution as it breaches Article 23 of the Constitution.

“The questions regarding Mr Domelevo’s date of birth which formed the recent basis for the President’s letter were not handled in accordance with the Constitutional directive in Article 23. The actions of the office of the President and the Audit Service affirm our belief that Mr Domelevo has been unfairly targeted,” the Coalition’s Spokesperson said.

But in response, President Akufo-Addo insists that he is still committed to the fight against corruption and protecting the public purse and that this is evident in the support his administration gave to Mr Domelevo and the Audit Service since it assumed office.

“When the President assumed office, he worked and continues to work with all the constitutional office holders that had been appointed by his predecessor, former President Mahama including the Commissioner for CHRAJ, Mr Joseph Whittal, who, like Mr Domelevo, was appointed a few days before Mr Mahama left office and the Chairperson of the National Commission of Civic Education Ms Josephine Nkrumah,” the March 19 statement, signed by the President’s Secretary, Nana Asante Badiatuo added.