President Akufo-Addo has shared some insight over what went into the appointment of Daniel Yao Domelevo as Auditor-General back in 2016.

According to him, events leading to the selection of Mr Domelevo for the role leaves much to be desired as far as the motive of former President Mahama is concerned.

“…having lost his mandate to govern, former President Mahama appointed Mr Domelevo to the office, knowing very well that President Akufo-Addo would be sworn into office in a few days, to pursue a particular agenda.”
This comes on the back of accusations by a cross-section of the country including the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption that the Presidency and the Audit Service Board is unfairly targeting the retired Auditor-General.

President Akufo-Addo on March 3, 2021, directed Daniel Domelevo to proceed on retirement over his age, a move many civil society organization have deemed an attempt to stifle the fight against 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 Domelovo 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 Spokesperson said.

However, the President begs to differ.

In a letter to the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption, Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante stated among other things that the series of activities that characterized the appointment of Domelevo was questionable, to begin with. According to the 21-page document on Friday, the decision to present Mr Domelevo for the office, days after Nana Akufo-Addo’s 2016 election victory shows that Mr. Mahama wanted his finger on the pulse in the incoming administration to help him ‘purse a particular agenda.”

He was appointed by former President on December 30, 2016.
But the statement further suggests the ‘hurried nature of the switch from an earlier agreed nominee in the person of Dr Felix Kwame Aveh by the Council of State smacks of an ulterior motive.

“Dr Felix Kwame Aveh was the Auditor-General that former President Mahama intended to appoint if he won the election of December 7, 2016. But he lost.”