– Domelevo appeals to the President
The Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, has urged the President to reconsider the latest directive for him to proceed on leave, in order to protect the sanctity of the labour law, the constitution and the independence of the Auditor-General.
In a response to the President’s directive to take his accumulated annual leave of 123 working days, copied to the press, Mr. Domelevo noted that while he has started his leave per the instructions of the President, the development raises some issues relating to “constitutional governance, due process and rule of law.”
For instance, he argued that a worker forfeits his leave once he “fails, omits, neglects or even refuses” to take his or her annual leave in any given year, per the labour laws of the country.
He also noted that “every person is entitled, save in very limited circumstances to waive what the law has ordained for their benefit, in this case, a worker’s leave.”
However, he pointed that per the standing orders, this has some serious implications for the constitutional independence of the office of the Auditor-General.
Mr. Domelevo reckoned among others that “previous correspondence from the chairman of the Audit Service Board, who works at the Office of the Senior Minister, together with public pronouncements by the Minister make it clear that the Auditor-General’s work is embarrassing the government.”
Again, he said “several appointees of the President, have not since, the year 2017 taken their annual leave to date,” and at the back of this development creates the impression that the decision for him to proceed on leave was not taken in “good faith.”
Furthermore, he stated that “In the Kroll and Associates Vrs. the Auditor-General, the Supreme Court offered the lawyers 10 days from June 24, 2020, to bring their written submissions and the Auditor-General is to inspect documents or evidence of work done for the Senior Minister before going back to the Supreme Court.”
It was against this backdrop that he appealed to the President to reconsider the decision.
This, he explained would help to “protect the sanctity of the labour law, the constitution and the independence of the Auditor-General which is of utmost importance in so far as ensuring that the constitutional principles of probity, transparency and accountability are concerned.”
