General News of Thursday, 16 July 2020

Source: angelonline.com.gh

Any attack on Auditor-General is attack on parliament – Minority

Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo has been asked to proceed on leave by the president Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo has been asked to proceed on leave by the president

Deputy Minority Chief Whip and MP for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, has condemned the directive of President Akufo-Addo asking the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, to proceed on a compulsory leave.

He explained that, the Auditor-General in the discharge of his duties is not a member of the executive but rather, part of the legislative body.

The MP claimed Parliament supported wrongdoing because it did not take action on the directive of the president that asked the Auditor-General to proceed on his accumulated leave.

Mr. Ahmed believes that, the mandatory proceed- on-leave decision from the President to Demelevo is an attack on Parliament.

He said, it is obvious that the compulsory leave stems from the AG’s findings and exposure of the Senior Minister for corruption-related activities.

According to him, the independence of the AG’s office has been compromised since any new successor to Domelevo would play to the president’s tune to avoid Domelevo-like fate.

The Banda MP stated that, without the function of the Auditor General, the work of Parliament would not be perfectly executed.

Parliament’s core mandates are three and it is the Auditor-General who assists parliament to achieve them”, he said.

He added that on the basis of Article 187 of the 1992 constitution, not even parliament can dictate to the AG even though he’s an auditor in parliament .

All corruption activities going on in the country cannot be investigated currently because there is no AG, he stated.

He posited that there is no such thing as ‘Acting Auditor General. He said that “the Constitution clearly stated Auditor-General, simplicita!”