Former Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo has criticised the widespread non-compliance with asset declaration laws among public officials, singling out members of the judiciary for breaching constitutional requirements.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, February 18, he lamented the entrenched culture of corruption and the failure of key institutions to lead by example.
“We are not suspicious of them (public officials), but they have proven time and again that they have been stealing the public funds. That’s the part where the evidence abounds,” Daniel Domelevo said.
“Look at the Auditor General’s report. You see that people holding public funds have been always misappropriating or using the money for their benefit. Put the Auditor General’s report aside. Many of them have been in office for just four years, a maximum of eight years, but see how filthy rich they are.
“They are terribly rich. And if you look at their salaries, I used to tell some of the MPs that as Auditor General, my salary is bigger than yours, but you seem to be 100 times richer than me. How did you make it?” He stressed that the issue goes beyond mere suspicion.
“The truth, on the ground, is that they have been stealing public funds. That is why we want to know how much you had before coming and how much you had on your exit. I’m not saying all of them, but there are some of them who clearly have been abusing their office.”
When asked about his experiences enforcing asset declaration laws, Daniel Domelevo revealed shocking non-compliance within the judiciary itself.
“Yes, I did have some interesting encounters. In fact, when we started, it was clear that even the judiciary, which we thought should be at the forefront of law enforcement, didn’t declare,” he disclosed.
“In fact, including Kwasi Anin Yeboah, the former Chief Justice, justices of the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court—several of them were not declaring.”
He expressed disappointment in oversight bodies for failing to hold the judiciary accountable.
“When people complained or petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), I was completely disappointed when it just said that, well, there are no punishments prescribed in any law for them or that Act (1998) 550 does not prescribe any punishment. So go and sin no more.”
Daniel Domelevo challenged the logic of allowing public officials to assume office without fulfilling constitutional obligations.
“I thought that if the Constitution says you should do something before you can enter office or assume office, and you didn’t do that before coming to office, you are occupying the office unconstitutionally,” he argued.
Drawing a comparison with presidential inaugurations, he asked, “For instance, could President Mahama just wake up on January 7, 2025, and say ‘I’ve been voted for as president, so I’m going to start as president. I don’t want swearing-in?’ No, it cannot happen.
“But how come that we judiciously comply with those requirements, even including the swearing-in of ministers, but then asset declaration, which is supposed to be done by the same Constitution, is neglected?”
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Source: JoyNews
