Dame to CDD-Ghana: Your views on my letter to the Auditor General are strange

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has said he considers it imperative to correct palpable errors contained in and implied by a recent press release from the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

He said CDD-Ghana’s press release, published on 10 February, distorts the relationship between the Attorney General and the Auditor General under Ghana’s constitutional architecture and has far-reaching implications for the nation’s record of rooting out corruption.

Dame had earlier urged the Auditor General to unpublish his audit findings into use of COVID-19 funds.

He said the report ought not to be published until Parliament probes the matter.

But CDD-Ghana and various other think tanks have questioned the AG’s concern, describing it as contrary to law.

Dame, however, argues that his advice to the Auditor General is entirely consistent with law.

Respect for the letter and the spirit
A statement by the Attorney General issued on Wednesday (15 February) said: “Contrary to the strange view of CDD-Ghana, the letter and spirit of laws governing the work of the Auditor General make him part of the Audit Service of Ghana and, therefore, a regular member of the public services of Ghana to whom the Attorney General can give advice pursuant to his mandate under Article 88 of the constitution.

“Article 189(2) of the constitution provides a clue when it stipulates thus: ‘The appointment of officers and other employees in the Audit Service, other than the Auditor General, shall be made by the Audit Service Board, acting in consultation with the Public Services Commission.’”