Ignore Asiedu Nketia; we won’t petition President over Domelevo – AFAG

Pro-ruling party pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Government (AFAG) has denied claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) that the group will in the coming days petition government over the impeachment of the embattled Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo.

Addressing a press conference Monday, the General Secretary of the NDC said the NPP government has engineered various plans to oust Mr Domelevo including using AFAG, to issue a petition to the President on the matter soon.

“The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), an NPP offshoot which has been used to carry out this vendetta, would petition the President in the coming days for the removal of the Auditor-General,” the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said.

The scribe said an invitation to Mr Domelevo by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) was the beginning of the grand scheme to get him out of office.

But the Deputy Secretary of AFAG, Wesley Owusu in an interview with Kasapa News Bonohene Baffuor Awuah stated that though the group has issues with the Audit Service breaching the procurement law, the group has no intention of petitioning the President for the Auditor-General’s removal even though that option is available to them.

“We’ve have not thought of petitioning the President over the removal of Mr Domelevo as the NDC is claiming, that is certainly false and must be treated with the contempt that it deserves. Have we finished dealing with the appropriate agencies? We have not gone to the office of the Special Prosecutor nor the Attorney General, how can we move straight to the Presidency. We are an organization that respects laws, leadership and how processes work. Asiedu Nketia’s claims are palpable falsehood.”

He added: “Petitioning the President over this matter is not our problem at all. But if the President after we petition him will refer the matter to the Special Prosecutor and Attorney General why don’t we go to these bodies or institutions first. There’s no need for us to overlook them. That’s not how we operate as a group, petitioning is an option available to AFAG but it is certainly not our first option.”

Meanwhile, the NDC has demanded an immediate cessation of the alleged hostile victimization of Mr. Dumelovo by the Akufo-Addo government.

”Rather than hounding Mr. Dumelovo, we are by this press conference calling on President Akuffo Addo to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo for the breaches of the Public Procurement Act,” Asiedu Nketia said.

This comes on the back of the ongoing investigations into alleged public procurement infractions at the Audit Service.

Some CSOs have described the investigations currently being conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) as an attempt “to teach the Auditor General a lesson.”

Petition

A private citizen petitioned EOCO, claiming, among others, that the Audit Service had breached the Procurement Law, Act 663, in the procurement of vehicles worth almost GH¢6.2 million.

The petitioner requested EOCO to determine whether proper procedures were followed by the Entity Tender Committee (ETC) in procuring the vehicles and recommend appropriate sanctions in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, where necessary.

On November 14, 2019, Mr Domelevo was invited by EOCO.

He gave a statement and was cautioned and granted bail by the investigative body for further investigations into the allegation.

However, on November 18, 2019, the Auditor-General wrote to EOCO to stop probing him and his outfit, with the argument that the investigative body had no power to do so.

He, consequently, demanded an unqualified apology from the anti-graft state agency within five working days from the date of the receipt of the letter.

In his response, the Executive Director of EOCO, Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr Frank Adu-Poku (retd), told the Daily Graphic that the Auditor-General could not put his own interpretation on the law and if he had any issues he should go to court for redress.

Suit

On November 20, 2019, Mr Domelevo filed a suit at the Accra High Court with a case that EOCO had no legal mandate to investigate alleged procurement breaches against him, any official of the Audit Service, the service itself or any public official or public institution.

According to him, it is the OSP that had the power to investigate such alleged offences.

Based on his contention, the Auditor-General has described the investigation by EOCO as “wrongful, illegal, capricious and null and void”.

He, therefore, wants the court to declare the investigations by EOCO as illegal and order a halt to the investigations