Audit Service Board raises issue with Domelevo's retirement date

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Politics Mar - 02 - 2021 , 17:43 4 minutes read

The Audit Service Board has raised issues with the date of birth and compulsory retirement of the Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo.

According to the Board Chairman of the Audit Service, Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, documents available to the board indicates that Mr Domelevo was born on June 1, 1960.

This, according to Prof Dua Agyeman was indicative that Mr Domelevo should have retired on June 1, 2020.

In a letter dated February 26, 2021, addressed to Mr Domelevo and signed by Prof Dua Agyeman, the Board said it had come to its attention that the personal records of Mr Domelevo in the “Public Services of Ghana show several disparities and anomalies."

The Board listed them as “Records at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) completed and signed by you [Domelevo] indicate your date of birth as 1st June 1960 when you joined the scheme on 1st October 1978. The records show that you stated your tribe as Togolese and a non-Ghanaian. That your home town is Agbatofe.”

“On 25th October 1993, you completed and signed a SSNIT Change of Beneficiary Nomination form, stating your nationality as a Ghanaian and your home town as Ada in the Greater Accra Region. The date of birth on your Ghanaian passport number A45800, issued on 28th February 1996 is 1st June 1961. That place of birth is stated as Kumasi, Ashanti Region,” the letter stated.

But in a response to the Board letter dated February 27, 2021, Domelevo in a written response explained that his grandfather was a native of Ada in the Greater Accra Region but migrated to Togo and stayed at Agbatofe.

He indicated that his father Augustine Domelevo migrated from Togo to the then Gold Coast.

“Either my father wrongly mentioned Agbatofe in Togo as his home town to me, or I misconstrued it at the time… My mother is also a Ghanaian,” he explained.

On his date of birth, Mr. Domelevo said he noticed that the 1960 date of birth was a mistake “when I checked my information in the baptismal register of the Catholic Church in Adeemmra.”

“The register has Yaw as part of my name and also provides my date of birth as 1st June 1961 – this corresponds with Thursday or Yaw- the day of the week on which I was born.”

But the Audit Service Board in a letter dated March 2, 2021, said Mr. Domelevo’s explanation of his nationality and narration of his grandfather’s migration is irrelevant.

The letter further described Mr. Domelevo’s answer to the issue of his date of birth as being inconsistent.

On Domelevo’s reference to his baptismal certificate to confirm his date of birth, the Board said that the document “is not a valid document to authenticate your date of birth.”

Again, the Board said Mr. Domelevo’s reference to a Parish Priest and provision of his contact for further verification of his date of birth is not admissible.

“Observation of your responses and explanations contained in your above reference letter make your date of birth and Ghanaian nationality even more doubtful and clearly establishes that you have made false statements contrary to law.”

The Board consequently insisted that Mr. Domelevo was due for compulsory retirement on June 1, 2020, and was in fact not a Ghanaian but a Togolese.

“Records made available to the Board indicate that your date of retirement was 1st June 2020 and as far as the Audit Service is concerned you are deemed to have retired,” it noted.

The Board further added that it was informing President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo about the development for him to take the necessary action.

“By a copy of this letter, the board is informing the President who is your appointing authority to take necessary action. Additionally, the board is making available to the President all the relevant documents at our disposal.”