Nine CSOs go to Supreme Court over Domelevo’s “forced leave”
At a press conference in July the CSOs said they would consider recourse to legal action to defend the constitution and the independence of the Auditor General, should this become necessary
A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has filed a writ at the Supreme Court challenging the 29 June presidential directive for the Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo, to proceed on involuntary leave.
In a statement, the nine CSOs said: “We had hoped that the president would reconsider his decision in light of the deleterious effect of his action on public accountability and the fight against waste and corruption in the management of public finances. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
“Instead, certain developments since the Auditor General was forced to leave his office have only gone to worsen the situation, leaving us with no option but to seek the intervention of the courts.”
“Strengthening accountability”
The coalition of CSOs is “hopeful that through the legal action it can safeguard the independence of the Office of the Auditor General and all independent constitutional offices established under the constitution of the Fourth Republic, so that they can discharge their lawful mandates effectively without fear or favour and, thereby, play their respective parts in our collective effort to build and strengthen the pillars of constitutionalism, checks and balances, and accountability in Ghana”.
On 7 July this year, a coalition of CSOs called a press conference in response to the president’s action and issued an appeal to him to rescind his directive to Domelevo.
The CSOs expressed grave concern over the constitutional and governance implications of the president’s action.
Legal action
At the press conference the coalition said that it would consider recourse to legal action to defend the constitution and the independence of the Auditor General, should this become necessary.
However, the president went ahead to appoint Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu to act as Auditor General during the 167 working days that Domelevo is supposed to be away on forced leave.
The coalition taking the court action includes the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), SEND Ghana, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the CitizenGhana Movement, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Parliamentary Network Africa, Penplusbytes, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the One Ghana Movement.
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