General News of Friday, 4 October 2019

Source: abcnewsgh.com

Remove Auditor-General from office over procurement breaches – AFAG

Daniel Domelevo, Auditor General Daniel Domelevo, Auditor General

The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has said it will petition President Nana Akufo-Addo to remove the Auditor-General over claims of procurement breaches happening at Auditor-General’s Department, ABC News can report.

A statement released by the pressure group, sighted by ABC News says management of the PPA seems to be shielding the Auditor-General given that he had not yet been sanctioned for allegations levelled against him.

“Management of the PPA has since the delivery of the said letter, failed and or refused to respond to our simple query. This confirms vital information available to AFAG that certain interests at the PPA seek to shield the Auditor General from legal scrutiny and accountability for his actions,” the statement said.

AFAG is of the view that the Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo has committed unpardonable breaches that warrants his removal from office and has vowed to petition the president Akufo-Addo to remove Mr. Domelevo from office.

“For committing serious breaches of the Public Procurement Act, AFAG will petition the President for the removal of the Auditor General from public office for the offenses captured in the PPA report covering the Audit Service from January 2018 to August 2018.”

“AFAG would lodge a complaint with the supervising Minister of the PPA, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and the Public Services Commission for appropriate action to be taken against the Management of the Public Procurement Authority for refusing to respond to our lawful demand,” the statement said.

AFAG says it is of the conviction that, “Management of the PPA may be shielding the Auditor General from proper scrutiny in accordance with the law”.

It further indicates that “At the 8thBoard Meeting of the Board of Directors of the PPA, held on the 20th of December 2018, the Board resolved and directed the Management of PPA to forward its findings to the Attorney Generals’ office for appropriate action to be taken against the Auditor General”

“This directive from the Board was pursuant to findings established by the PPA from January 2018 to August 2018. The PPA’s report concluded that the Auditor General has violated many provisions of the Public Procurement Act”.