Former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo says public officials continue to steal with boldness because there are no consequences for financial infractions uncovered by state audits.
Referring to Article 187 of the Constitution, he said the Auditor-General is mandated not only to audit but to disallow illegal expenditures and surcharge responsible officers.
Failure to enforce these powers, he warned, encourages impunity.
He explained that routine annual audits are done by sampling, so major losses are often uncovered later through special audits triggered by intelligence.
Section 16 of the Audit Service Act empowers the Auditor-General to conduct such special audits when national interest demands it.
“That is why special audits later reveal shocking figures. People pull out public funds as if they have no head,” he said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on October 25.
Domelevo argued that reforms must go beyond recovering stolen money to preventing future theft.
He repeated his earlier calls for three “low-hanging” legal changes: Make internal auditors independent of the officials they audit, Reverse burden of proof for unexplained wealth once ownership is established, Impose a time limit on corruption trials so cases conclude within months
He said current laxity sends the wrong message in the public sector.
“There is no deterrence. People see others steal huge sums and get away with it, so they repeat it.”
He urged the Auditor-General to “hit the road hard” now that the President has granted support, including the creation of special courts to handle audit-related prosecutions.
Domelevo believes that a strict and visible crackdown over six months targeting ministers, chief directors and other public officials would immediately reset behaviour.
By Christabel Success Treve
