Former Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo is disappointed over the lack of punishment for public officials who breach asset declaration laws, stressing that impunity undermines the fight against corruption.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, February 18, he criticized the failure of enforcement institutions to hold violators accountable, particularly when evidence of financial misconduct is glaring.
“We are not suspicious of them (public officials), but they have proven time and again that they have been stealing public funds. That’s the part—the evidence abounds,” Domelevo stated.
“Look at the Auditor-General’s report. You see that people holding public funds have always been misappropriating or using the money for their benefit. Put the Auditor-General’s report aside. Many of them have been in office 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 underscored that the issue was not about suspicion but the harsh reality of public fund abuse.
“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 who clearly have been abusing their office.”
Sharing his experience with the enforcement of asset declaration laws, Domelevo recounted several troubling cases.
“Yes, I did have some interesting encounters,” he said.
“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.
“In fact, including the former Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, and the rest—several of them—judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court, they were all not declaring.”
His disappointment deepened when complaints to oversight bodies yielded no action.
“When people complained or petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), I was completely disappointed when the Commission just said, ‘Well, there are no punishments prescribed in any law for them.’ Or that Act 550 does not prescribe any punishment. So go and sin no more.”
Domelevo questioned the selective enforcement of constitutional requirements.
“I thought that if the Constitution says you should do something before you can assume office, and you didn’t do that before coming to office, you are occupying the office unconstitutionally,” he said.
Drawing a striking analogy, 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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