President Akufo-Addo has directed the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo to proceed on retirement.
This comes barely 16 hours after he returned from his 167-day accumulated leave on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
The directive, according to a statement signed by Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo, stems from an indication by the Audit Service Board that Mr Domelevo has exceeded the eligible age to remain in the workforce.
“The attention of the President of the Republic has been drawn to records and documents made available to this Office by the Audit Service, that indicate that your date of birth is 1st June, 1960, and that in accordance with article 199 (1) of the Constitution, your date of retirement as Auditor-General was 1st June, 2020.”
The statement explained that “based on this information, the President is of the view that you have formally left office.”
Essentially, Johnson Akuamoa-Asiedu will continue to act in Mr Domelevo’s stead until a substantive appointment is made.
“The President thanks you for your service to the nation and wishes you the very best in your future endeavours,” the March 3 statement concluded.
The Audit Service Board’s concerns
Prior to his return on Wednesday, the Audit Service Board announced that the Auditor- General is deemed to have retired in June 2020 due to some anomalies in his personal records.
In a series of letters between the Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Prof. Edward Dua Agyeman and Mr Domelevo, the latter was asked to explain these anomalies or have some actions taken against him.
The Board alleged that records at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) provided by the Auditor-General indicated that his date of birth was 1960 when he joined the scheme on October 1, 1978.
Again the record also showed that the hometown of Mr. Domelevo is Agbetofe in Togo; making him non-Ghanaian but on October 25, 1993, some changes were made.
While the date of birth changed to June 1, 1961, the hometown of the Auditor-General was now Ada in the Greater Accra Region.
But explaining the purported anomalies, Mr. Domelevo said his grandfather was a native of Ada in the Greater Accra Region but migrated to Togo and stayed at Agbetofe.
On the issue of his date of birth, Mr. Domelevo said he noticed that 1960 was a mistake “when I checked my information in the baptismal register of the Catholic Church in Adeemmra.”
“I was born in Kumasi and my mother in less than three weeks after my birth, returned to Kwahu Adeemmra (with me) and I was baptized in June 1961,” Mr. Domelevo added.
However, the Audit Service Board in its latest document dated March 2, said the explanation given makes the “date of birth and Ghanaian nationality even more doubtful and clearly establishes that you have made false statements contrary to law.”
In view of this, the Audit Service Board said it deems Mr. Domelevo to have retired in 2020.
Chairman of the Board, Prof. Edward Dua Agyeman also said a copy of all documents on the issue will be sent to the President who is the appointing authority for the Auditor-General to take action.
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