You should be on retirement per your date of birth – Akufo-Addo to Domelevo

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has written to embattled auditor-general Daniel Yao Domelevo asking him to stop arrogating himself that position.

According to the letter, Domelevo’s date of birth was 1 June 1960 hence his retirement was due on 1 June 2020.

Signed by secretary to the president Nana Bediatuo Asante, the 3 March 2021 letter said: “The attention of the President of the Republic has been drawn to records and documents made available to this Office by the Audit Service, that indicate that your date of birth is 1st June 1960, and that in accordance with article 199 (1) of the Constitution, your date of retirement as Auditor-General was 1st June 2020,” the letter said.

It added: “Based on this information, the President is of the view that you have formally left office.”

Domelevo ended his 167-day compulsory leave on Wednesday, 3 March and returned to work despite latest accusation by the Audit Service board that he falsified his date of birth and nationality.

“Records at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) completed and signed by you 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 hometown is Agbatofe,” board chairman of the Audit Service, Prof Edward Dua, said in a 26 February 2021 letter to Domelevo.

“On 25th October 1992, you completed and signed a SSNIT Change of Beneficiary Nomination form, stating your nationality as a Ghanaian and your hometown 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 correspondence stated.

However, Domelevo is challenging the allegations in a 27 February 2021 response to the board.

“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,” Domelevo replied in a letter dated 27 February 2021.

On his date of birth, 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.”

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

The letter further described 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 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 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.”

Source: Daily Mail GH