Auditor General doesn’t need prosecutorial powers – Casley Hayford

Financial analyst, Sydney Casely Hayford has said the Auditor-General does not need prosecutorial powers in order to bring defaulting officials to book.

The OccupyGhana leading member believes Mr. Daniel Domelevo will be stepping out of his jurisdiction should he be given that power.

“…his job is to unearth the corruption…he should leave prosecuting the defaulters to the office of the Attorney General and other institutions like the Office of the Special Prosecutor to take up that charge…”, Mr. Casely Hayford told Accra based Citi FM, Tuesday.

He added that adding court duties to the office of the Auditor General will place too much pressure on the department.

Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo Monday told journalists at a Press Conference in Accra that he had applied to the Attorney-General for prosecutorial powers in order take on those indicted in the annual Auditor-General's reports often riddled with repetitive cases of mismanagement.

"If the Attorney-General gives me a fiat which I have applied for, you will see me in action", he said.

But Mr. Casely Hayford believes that is the sole duty of the Attorney-General and other state institutions like Economic and Organized Crimes Office (EOCO) that are mandated to do so.

“…if he feels the pace he wants the prosecution of cases to go is not the pace that the A-G works with, he has other state institutions like EOCO at his disposal”, he said.

“…I am inclined that he does not need to be given those powers”, he added.



Mr. Casely Hayford’s position differs from that of his fellow OccupyGhana leader, Ace Ankomah who believes granting the Auditor General prosecutorial powers will be a good move.

Describing the move as “revolutionary”, Ace said on Joy FM’s Top Story Monday that, “it is very doable”.

He, however, added that the powers must be clearly spelt out to avoid conflicting of jurisdiction.

"There is nothing wrong with having cooks if you determine what each cook can cook", he asserted, explaining that, "one is cooking the soups, one is cooking the yams and one is cooking the stews."

Recently, the Auditor General uncovered a startling GH¢5.4 billion submitted to government as outstanding liabilities to contractors but which have no basis at all.

Mr. Domelevo has since disallowed such payments and recommended the prosecution of officials who superintended those payments.

The debts owed to contractors and other service providers by officials at the various ministries were said to have been incurred between 2014-2017. Read Full Story