The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has slammed the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) for claiming that his office lacks the authority to advise the Auditor General.
Godred Dame described the publication of the audit report on the government’s expenditure of Covid-19 funds as premature in a letter to the Auditor General.
In his argument, Article 187(5) of the Constitution requires the Auditor-General to submit his report to Parliament and to draw attention to any irregularities in the audited accounts in that report.
CDD-Ghana, which strongly disagreed with this position stated that the Attorney General cannot advise the Auditor General.
Its Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement, Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante said the Attorney General’s letter requesting that the report on the COVID-19 audit not be published is absurd and an attack on the Auditor General.
However, Godfred Dame in a response to CDD-Ghana stressed that the Attorney General is the primary legal advisor and has every right to advise the Auditor General accordingly.
“It is astonishing that CDD-Ghana disputes the propriety of the Attorney-General rendering legal advice to the Auditor-General, and construes same as “an interference with the independence of the Auditor General”.
“A proper reading of the Constitution, especially the provisions on the Public Services of Ghana, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Attorney-General is fully vested with the constitutional function of giving legal advice to all the Public Services specifically listed in Article 190(1) of the Constitution, including the Audit Service, and such other public services as will be established by law”.”
“The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice implores civil society organisations to carefully examine the position of Ghana law on a relevant matter before raising unjustified public alarm over a violation by the Attorney-General or any public institution at all.
“The default in doing so affects the image of the nation in the eyes of the international community, particularly its anti-corruption ratings”, the letter further read in parts.
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