Over 20 civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ghana have jumped to the defence of the Auditor-General, Mr. Daniel Domelevo in the face of ongoing alleged procurement breaches the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) is investigating against him.
The CSOs include Ghana Anti- Corruption Coalition (GCAA), Ghana Centre for Democratic Governance (CDD-G) and Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) are saying that they are very much concerned about handling of the case.
The Auditor-General on Friday sued the investigative agency on the basis that the institution lacked jurisdiction to investigate him.
According to Ghanaian Times report on Saturday the CSOs issued statement in Accra on Friday expressing concern about ways in which the state power can be abused to harass public offers seeking to protect public purse.
“No one is above the law and everyone should be held to the same standards of accountability. However, as keen observers of the anti-corruption space, we are alive to the ways in which state power can be abused to harass and intimidate public officers seeking to protect public purse” statement continued.
The CSOs contended that there was concerned effort to undermine the work of the Auditor-General whose fight against the canker of corruption has earned him respect among Ghanaians and the international community.
A Governance expert, Josephine Appiah told APA that the harassment of the Auditor General is a politically motivated adding that Mr. Domelevo is perceived by the government as an enemy since he was appointed by former President John Dramani Mahama a few days before leaving office after losing power to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2016.
DAP/abj/APA