Pressure group, Economic Fighters League has cautioned persons trying to discredit the work of the Auditor General through attacks to desist from such practices.
The group gave the caution against the backdrop of intense pressure on the Auditor General for indicting some government officials in its report.
The finding was published in the Auditor General’s report on the public account of Ghana Ministries, Departments and Other Agencies (MDAs) for the financial period ending December 31, 2018.
The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) had called on the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice to investigate the Auditor-General’s department for alleged procurement breaches.
AFAG in a statement said its investigations have revealed that “as far back as 3rd January, 2019, the Board of the Public Procurement Authority, in a letter authored by the Board Secretary informed the Auditor-General of flagrant breaches of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended by the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 914) committed by him.”
Government also descended heavily on the Auditor General recently for indicting the Finance Ministry and the Senior Minister in its audit report.
But the Economic Fighters League called for such attacks to be aborted.
The group commended the Auditor-General for its fight against corruption.
“This statement is to show unreserved support to the Auditor-General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo and the audit service, which has come under intense attack from partisan political hawks recently, including through a frivolous petition to EOCO against the Auditor-General.”
The group further said that if the government was serious about fighting public sector corruption, “it would not allow a hardworking Auditor-General like Daniel Domelevo to be attacked and discredited.”
“We encourage the Auditor-General to stand firm and not be intimidated and to do his work without fear or favour. The nation is solidly behind him,” the statement added.
Auditor General indicts Finance Ministry
The Auditor General indicted the Ministry of Finance and the Senior Minister accusing them of contracting Kroll Associates in 2017 to recover assets from identified wrongdoers; investigate allegations of wrongdoing among others, paid the company an amount of US$1 million (equivalent of GH¢4,890,000), yet there was no evidence of work done.
In September, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in the meeting with the press stated that the findings that identified the irregularities are false.
The government claimed that the Auditor General did not go through the constitutional practice and has already gone public and announced this finding to the mass media, it is not a concluded non-negotiable fact but government will respond.
In relation to the above, in October, the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo in a letter addressed to the Auditor-General explained that the company actually worked and there was ample evidence of the work done by the firm to merit government’s payment. Also, he insisted that approval for the request for single-source procurement of professional services was obtained contrary to claims by the Auditor-General that they failed to seek approval from the Public Procurement Authority.
Below is the full press release by the Economic Fighters League in solidarity with the Auditor-General:
PRESS RELEASE
HANDS OFF DOMELEVO
This statement is to show unreserved support to the Auditor-General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo and the audit service, which has come under intense attack from partisan political hawks recently, including through a frivolous petition to EOCO against the Auditor-General.
Under Mr. Domelevo’s leadership, the service has moved from a toothless report-writing body to a powerful force against stealing in public office. Over hundred (100) individuals and organisations have been surcharged and over GHC 60 million recovered. The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo has recently been surcharged over a $1million irregular payment to a company called Kroll Associates. Following this, some people have been unleashed to discredit the Auditor-General and truncate his work.
We serve notice that we as Ghanaians are in dire need of the money and therefore support the Auditor-General to collect it from Mr. Osafo-Maafo and all those whose actions cause losses to the state. We further call on Mr. Osafo-Maafo to pay the money and tell the attack dogs to back off.
If the government was serious about fighting public sector stealing, it would not allow a hardworking Auditor-General like Daniel Domelevo to be attacked and discredited.
We encourage the Auditor-General to stand firm and not be intimidated and to do his work without fear or favour. The nation is solidly behind him.
#HandsOffDomelevo
Revolutionary regards
signed
Hardi Yakubu
Fighter-General
