Anti-corruption campaigner, Vitus Azeem has expressed concerns about President Akufo-Addo’s decision not to waive his order to the Auditor-General to go on leave.
According to him this is unfortunate and defeats the country’s efforts to curb corruption.
“For me, I think the President’s decision not to reverse his directive to the Auditor General to proceed on leave is unfortunate. This is because this is a President that says he is a listening President. He has also made it known to Ghanaians that he was incorruptible and that he was determined to fight corruption if he was given power. We have given him the power and we do not expect him to do anything that will obstruct the fight against corruption.
“This [Auditor-General] is someone who has been doing very well with the fight against corruption. He has exposed a lot of criminal activities and he has been able to recover a lot of money for the state, so one would have expected that rather than asking him to proceed on leave, you commend him and probably give him an award for that. This [leave directive] will definitely have a negative impact on Ghana’s fight against corruption and the President’s own anti-corruption stance. We call on him to give a second look to his decision and reverse the directive for Mr. Domelevo to go on leave.”
There have been a plethora of opinions concerning the President’s decision.
Professor Kweku Asare has noted that, the President has no Constitution right to ask the A-G to proceed on leave. Close to 500 Civil Society Organizations (COSs) have describe the decision as sad.
Also, led by Korieh Duodu and Lolan Sagoe-Moses close to a 1,000 Ghanaians at home and abroad, have signed a petition which has been presented to the Presidency. They demanded the President to reverse his decision.
However, a statement from the Office of the President indicated that, President Nana Akufo-Addo will not change his stance on the directive.
Mr Vitus Azeem has been consistent and incessant about the President’s decision. Earlier this month when the directive was made public and caused an uproar, he indicated that President’s rhetoric on fighting corruption is ambiguous.
“…When it comes to acting against corruption he’s found wanting,”
As several sects of the populace have questioned the timing of the decision, Mr Azeem has described the government’s decision as trying to ill-timed.
“And so in 2017 it means, he hasn’t gone on leave and nobody drew his attention to it; they just kept quiet. In 2018, nobody drew his attention to it, 2019 it just happened. Then you wait; 2020 is a very important year – an election year. You don’t want this man to continue to publicly write indicting report about us, so the best thing is to set him up.
“The way this matter has been handled it raises eyebrows like, the government was waiting for this opportunity to kick him out. Because as you know he has been a thorn in the flesh of the government and some of the senior people in the government.”
