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Auditor General indicts Ghana’s Washington Mission officer over “missing” visa fees

…Ex-Tourism Minister, MP Queenstar Pokuah Sawyerr, Free SHS Secretariat also accused 

A new report of the Auditor-General shows that grand corruption and waste of public funds is not going away.  

Among a raft of findings is the indictment of the Honorary Consul General at Ghana’s Washington Mission and Houston Consulate for not being able to account for visa fees totalling US$354,760.00 (or two million cedis at prevailing exchange rates).

The Free SHS Secretariat is also accused of misapplying more than nineteen (19) million cedis of its allocations.

In addition, the Auditor-General says Ex-Tourism Minister Catherine Afeku is keeping three official vehicles despite leaving office.

MP Queenstar Pokuah Sawyerr is accused of spending GH¢39,000.00 of her MP allocation on non-existent works.

These are contained in the “Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana: Ministries, Departments and other Agencies for the year ended 31 December, 2020.”

The Office of the Auditor-General, under the hand of Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, Acting Auditor-General transmitted this report to the Speaker of Parliament on 11 June, 2021. 

The big picture

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Corruption Watch Breakdown of ‘Auditor General’s Report on Public Accounts’

Introduction 

The document we focusing on is the “Report of the Auditor-General on the Public  Accounts of Ghana: Ministries, Departments and other Agencies for the year  ended 31 December, 2020.” 

The Office of the Auditor-General, under the hand of Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, Acting Auditor-General transmitted this report to the Speaker of Parliament on 11  June, 2021.  

The report states that when the Auditor-General and his team set out to Audit  accounts of MDAs to ascertain the state of their accounts at the close of the year  2020, they were guided by certain objectives.  

They set out to determine whether: 

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Auditor General finds 25 financial irregularities at Cape Coast varsity

…As total infractions hit GHC5.46bn at end of 2019

The Auditor General has discovered that 25 instances of financial irregularity took place at the University of Cape Coast and its various colleges and subsidiaries as at the end of 31st December, 2019. 

Corruption Watch’s tabulation of the amount of individual irregularities shows that the infractions involve a total of GHC88,289,417.16. In addition, the amount constitutes 49.09% of irregularities recorded for institutions under the ministry of education. 

According to the Auditor General, “…the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ghartey Ampiah entered into a 10 year Build, Own, Operate and Transfer Agreement with KLEOS UK Ltd for the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) services at a cost of $300,000.00 per year totalling $3,000,000.00 for the contract period without seeking approval from the University Council, the Minister of Education and Public Procurement before committing the University to such financial obligation.” 

The “contract signed by the Vice Chancellor was only witnessed by the Director of ICT services Dr. Regina Gyampoh-Vidogah. Consequently, the Auditor General recommended that “the Vice Chancellor should submit the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer Agreement (BOOT) with KLEOS UK Ltd to the University Council, Minister of Education and Public Procurement Authority for approval, failing which the sanctions in section 92 (1) of the Public Procurement Act shall be applied.”

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I never undermined Domelevo – Akufo-Addo to CSOs

“The questions regarding Mr Domelevo’s date of birth which formed the recent basis for the President’s letter were not handled in accordance with the Constitutional directive in Article 23. The actions of the office of the President and the Audit Service affirm our belief that Mr Domelevo has been unfairly targeted,” the Coalition’s Spokesperson said.

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SONA 2021: GII asks government to show commitment to fight against corruption

The Ghana Integrity Initiative has asked government to show more commitment to the fight against corruption to build trust and public confidence.

“We have not seen much leadership in the fight against corruption in the country. We need to see bold initiatives from government through effective preventive mechanism against corruption and administrative sanction to deter potential corrupt officials”.

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CSOs urge Supreme Court to deal with two suits

…Encourage Domelevo to go to CHRAJ

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations Against Corruption has requested the Supreme Court of Ghana to determine two cases pending before it on the constitutionality of the Auditor General’s forced ‘accumulated leave’ by President Akufo-Addo.

The group contends that the crux of the issues raised in the two suits are relevant regardless of the current state of affairs; that is the forced retirement of Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo. 

“The suits border on the broader issues of whether or not a President could exercise administrative authority over Independent Constitutional Bodies (ICBs). Therefore, it is important for the Supreme Court to deal with these suits expeditiously to prevent any such actions by a future President,” said Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director, Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

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Audit Service Board raises issue with Domelevo’s retirement date

The tussle between the Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, and the Audit Service Board has reached a crescendo, with the board writing to inform the appointing authority, the President, that the former has reached retirement age.

This follows the board’s alleged findings that Mr Domelevo had changed his date of birth on the records of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) from June 1, 1960 to June 1, 1961.

“Records made available to the board indicate that your date of retirement was 1st June 2020 and as far as the Audit Service is concerned you are deemed to have retired.

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Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, reports to work after long leave

The Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, has reported to work after the 167-day accumulated leave.

Mr Domelevo proceeded on a compulsory leave on July 1, 2020.

He showed up at the office of the Audit Service headquarters in Accra at 8:20am amid some misunderstanding with the Audit Service Board.

The board, in a letter addressed to the President has stated that Mr Domelevo reached his retirement age on June 1, 2020.

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Assemblies’ Common Fund rip-off rises to GH¢124.82 million

Some officials of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies mismanaged funds and resources of their assemblies to a financial value of approximately GH¢124.82 million in 2019, the Auditor-General has revealed.

The financial irregularities for 2019 represent a 3.53% rise from the 2018 figure of approximately GH¢120.56 million. In nominal terms, the increase is approximately GH¢4.2m. 

“The findings once again showed lack of commitment on the part of the management of Assemblies in the implementation and enforcement of my audit recommendations towards mitigating infringements of the laws. I also attributed the situation to non-imposition of sanctions to minimise the violations,” says the Auditor-General in a letter transmitting his latest report to the Speaker of Parliament.

Comparative irregularities from 2015 to 2019 financial years
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CHRAJ urges Domelevo to file complaint over forced proceed-on-leave directive

Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice has described as unfortunate the Executive directive to the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, to proceed on leave.

The comments by Joseph Whittal on the sidelines of the launch of the Citizens Anti-Corruption Manifesto last week adds to the plethora of criticisms that has hit the presidential directive forcing the Auditor-General to take his accumulated 167 days’ leave.

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