Former Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo says he does not understand why the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has chosen to abandon its mandate to rather pursue issues outside its jurisdiction.
Although the Constitution mandates EOCO to deal with matters related to financial crimes of public officers, Mr. Domelevo says it has rather chosen to pursue matters revolving corruption which is outside its responsibilities.
Citing the allegations of him involving in procurement breaches whilst serving as Auditor-General, he said although the matter did not rest in the jurisdiction of EOCO, it rushed to conduct investigations until he stopped them through the High Court.
His comments come on the back of a petition he filed to the House of Parliament to conduct investigations into the conduct of the Office on the Cecilia Dapaah cash scandal.
Mr. Domelevo is joined by over 100 individuals including anti-corruption campaigner and renowned human rights lawyer, Martin Luther Kpebu, Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana and a host of others to petition the Legislature to investigate why EOCO is refusing to investigate the former Sanitation and Water Resources minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
In their petition, they say the EOCO possesses the constitutional wherewithal to probe the sources of the sums of cash stashed in Cecilia Dapaah’s residence, the reason they cannot seek a supposed advice from the Attorney-General not to carry on with any probe of money laundering.
Speaking on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Thursday, May 16, 2024, Mr. Domelevo noted that EOCO’s rush to investigate an allegation against the Roads and Highways Ministry by Prof Stephen Adei and cleared it of any wrongdoing, despite the matter being outside its purview, should give Ghanaians a cause to worry.
“When I was in office, a frivolous allegation was made against me for breaches in procurement processes and whereas it did not fall within the mandate of EOCO, they took it upon themselves to investigate. I had to go to court and used the High Court to stop them. It took a High Court to stop them to say that they are acting illegally before they stopped,” he told host, Alfred Ocansey.
For being quick to probe matters outside its mandate, Mr. Domelevo has been asking “what would stop them (EOCO) from investigating an offence which rather falls squarely within their mandate?”
He says the development “gives us a cause to worry.”
