Daniel Yao Domelevo, Ghana’s Former Auditor-General, has expressed worry over the increasing number of corrupt cases and practices in the country.
Mr Domelevo revealed that although he cannot outrightly pinpoint the exact number of corrupt cases in the country, he described the situation as disturbing. He explained that there is the need to start fighting corruption correctly, and by so doing the country will make progress in addressing the situation.
“There are several corrupt cases. Even starting from this year up till now, you’ve heard of scandals over scandals over scandals. There are a lot of them. I don’t want to be specific to say that this is the particular one which is disturbing me. But let me say that all corrupt practices are disturbing. They all take resources out of the mouth of the people; they all create bad environments. You see how we’re suffering from flooding? Because somebody has the money and he has gone to build in the waterway and nobody can touch him because he’s untouchable.”
Daniel Yao Domelevo
Assessing the level of corruption in the Akufo-Addo administration, Mr Domelevo indicated that it will be a difficult thing for him to do. He noted that he is yet to conduct a comprehensive review of the current regime, therefore he cannot conclusively comment on the issue of corruption in the current government.
“It’s very difficult for me to give a mark or to say they’re doing well or they are not doing too well because I have not done a complete review. But there are one too many corrupt cases that are going on unattended to, which I think the government can do better than it has done so far.”
Daniel Yao Domelevo
To address the issue of corruption, the former Auditor-General stated that the executive arm of government must lead by example when it comes to declaration of assets by public officials. He emphasized that the Audit Service must also be well-equipped and resourced to be able to track the assets of public officials before they assume office.
His comments followed the emergence of a document purported to be the Will of the late former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Sir John. In a publication by the Fourth Estate’s Manasseh Azure, he disclosed a list of properties, owned by the late Forestry Commission Boss. The list, which went viral on social media, raised concerns about how public officials amass wealth when they get into public service.
Lands Minister urged to focus on investigating living gov’t officials
Elsewhere, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has called on the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, to focus on investigating government officials who are alive, in his fight against the unlawful acquisition of lands.
Contained in a Facebook post made on May 25, 2022, Professor Gyampo revealed that despite being impressed with the efforts of the Lands Minister, he must move away from probing cases of dead public officials.
“You are being cautiously hailed as an action man, and of course this is to be expected from a very young dynamo man with all the zeal. I have spoken to quite a number of well-meaning people in society on the Sir John land acquisitions and many seem unsure of what is really going on. Some are however happy with your swift intervention… Take note that it is easy to deal with dead men because they don’t and actually can’t talk. Probe deeper to see your colleague living souls who may have acquired lands they aren’t supposed to acquire.”
Professor Ransford Gyampo
Prof Gyampo indicated that the sector minister’s “exuberance must be well targeted”. He advised that once Mr Jinapor is able to tackle the problem with the same energy and zeal, “you will have the full support and respect of the many discerning Ghanaians who are at the moment, cautiously optimistic about the sincerity of your swift interventions”.
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