Akufo-Addo has no authority to remove auditor general – Kofi Bentil

Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa Kofi Bentil has said that President Akufo-Addo does not have the power to remove or punish the auditor general. Bentil noted that the president would have had nothing to do if the auditor general had refused to take the forced leave.

Bentil posted on his Facebook noting that: “He (the president) has no such authority. Let me put it this way, if the Auditor-General had refused to take the forced leave, the president wouldn’t be able to remove or punish him!!! He has no such authority.”

Late last month the president directed the Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo to take his accumulated 123 leave days. However, the Auditor general replied to the president’s directive indicating that the president had gone against the law and that the directive was not in good faith. He noted that he was being punished for his work which was embarrassing the government.

According to the Auditor General: “The President has at all times acted based on sound legal principles, the rule of law and good governance practices and the good people of Ghana cannot be misled by your lack of understanding of the position of the law, for which you may be forgiven since you are not a lawyer.

“Annual leave is mandatory and that one of the purposes of Section 31 is to prevent the worker from converting his accumulated annual leave to cash to the detriment of his health and wellbeing. Thus, your assertion that you may waive your entitlement to annual leave is unlawful and misconceived.

“The assertion that the decision for you to take your accumulated annual leave was not taken in good faith is also unfortunate and without any foundation. The Office of the President did not know that as part of your duties is to keep a record of appointees of the President who have not taken their annual leave since 2017, such that you can make the false claim of selectivity. You can be assured that the decision for you to take your accumulated annual leave was not taken in bad faith. Rather, your publication of your deteriorated relationship with your Board which notified you severally of not taking your annual leave, the President was the only person vested with the constitutional power to direct you to proceed on your accumulated annual leave.”

The president and the Auditor general seem to be in a cold war which may end up being messy.