It appears the controversies at the Audit Service have not ended completely despite the retirement of the former Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo.

According to Mr. Domelevo, some staff of the Audit Service who worked with him to investigate the Kroll case have suffered some punishments.

He alleged that while some have suffered unfair demotions, others have been transferred to different regions as a form of punishment.

He says if this is not quickly checked, it will cripple the institution from delivering on its mandate.

Mr. Domelevo made this known when he spoke at the Domelevo Accountability Lectures organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation.

“The Deputy Auditor-General who was in charge of the central government audit which is the ministries audit has been sent to the Ministry of Finance as a director. More or less, he has been brought two steps lower to go and report to the chief directors or the Minister with who his audit had a problem.”

About the Kroll case
While in office as the Auditor-General, Mr. Domelevo released an audit report in which he indicted the then Senior Minister, Osafo Maafo and other officials of the Finance Ministry of paying private firms, Kroll and Associates about $1 million for no work done.

He thus directed that the officials involved should be surcharged.

The Auditor-General in its annual report on Public Accounts of Ghana (PAG) as of 31 December 2018 on the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) stated that: “During our review of the contract with Kroll Associates, we noted that though there was no evidence of work done, the ministry, in 2018, paid an amount of US$1 million (the equivalent of GH¢4,890,000) to the company”.

The Senior Minister and the four other officials from the Ministry of Finance sued Mr. Domelevo to clear their names in relation to what was said to be breaches of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) that resulted in their payment of US$1 million to Kroll and Associates.

Mr. Osafo Maafo resorted to the courts because he insisted that “the evidence available shows clearly that the Auditor-General erred in law and professional procedures in the exercise of his powers regarding his audit on payments to Kroll and Associates Limited.”

An Accra High Court subsequently upheld the appeal filed by Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, and the four other officials from the Ministry of Finance.

How was Domelevo retired?
Domelevo was subsequently asked by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to proceed on accumulated leave.

On March 2, a day before Mr. Domelevo was scheduled to return from his controversial forced leave, the Audit Service Board questioned his nationality and age.

The Board claimed Mr. Domelevo should have retired in 2020 and that he was a Togolese.

The Audit Service Board, based its claims on records at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) provided by the Auditor General.

His date of birth is said to be June 1, 1960, and not June 1, 1961.

Mr. Domelevo however refuted these claims in further correspondence.

The Presidency endorsed the retirement claims of the Audit Service Board and said it considered Mr. Domelevo retired.

“The President is of the view that you [Domelevo] have formally left office,” the letter from the presidency said in response to the date of birth concerns.

In a letter, the Presidency thanked him for his service and indicated that a substantive replacement for him will soon be announced.

Although critics and Civil Society Organizations have said the President acted in bad faith, Nana Akufo-Addo said his decision was justified.