‘You’ve been called to serve not to loot’ – Domelevo tells public servants
The Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo has expressed disappointment in public servants who use their office to encourage corruption.
He said it was distressing that officials with high educational qualification and knowledge are increasingly becoming unuseful to society because they have refused to use their acquired skills to work towards Ghana’s development, GBConline reported.
Speaking at the 6th International Institute of certified Forensic Investigation Professionals (IICFIP), Global Forensic Conference in Accra, Mr Domelevo said “unfortunately these are people who are highly educated, very knowledgeable in society but whose knowledge is useless because it doesn’t help society.
“All we do with our knowledge is to suppress and deny our people what they are entitled to. Very unfortunate. A call to a public office in my point of view is a call to serve the public interest and not to loot public resources,” he added.
The Conference was held on the theme ‘Harnessing Forensic Investigation Skills and Tools for Effective Skills and Tools for Fight against White Color Crimes’.
The Auditor General said transparency and accountability are key and anyone who chooses to hold any public office or in a position of trust must stand ready to be transparent and accountable for his or her stewardship.
Mr. Domelovo further reminded the gathering of the constitutional principles of State Policy particularly a principle under Article 35/8 of the 1992 constitution which says, “the state shall take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and abuse of power.
He advised Africans to uphold the principles for the development of respective countries as an appointment into public office was one that should be handled seriously.
The AG commended IICFIP for taking the step in harnessing forensic investigation skills and tools for the fight against white collards crimes.
Global Chairman of IICFIP, Dr. Rama Subramaniam for his part said white-collar crime has become a big problem in Africa hence the decision to speak on the theme.
“One of the best articulations we had was by the Auditor-General and I believe that he has impacted a lot of knowledge. Every year, we make the theme more relevant to the location of the conference. Today white-collar crime is a very serious matter and the conference focused on that”.
A senior organizer and country director of IIFCIP, Bismark Abode Allegra, appealed to African governments to equip forensic investigators with the tools needed to carry out their work efficiently and called on colleague auditors to be forthcoming and help reduce the corruption canker.