The accountant was in a letter dated December 19, 2016 and signed by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, offered the appointment which he was to confirm acceptance or otherwise by December 28, 2016.
The appointment became the third major last-minute one to be made by the President before exiting office in January 7, 2017. He appointed two people two weeks ago to head CHRAJ and the NCCE.
A legal practitioner and Editor of the Observer newspaper, Egbert Faibile, claimed on December 24, 2016 that Mr Domelovo who was to be sworn into office the previous day, had rejected the offer and flown out of the country.
Many critics who have condemned President Mahama’s last-gasp appointments commended Mr Domelovo for the supposed rejection of the appointment.
But in what appears to be a new twist, Mr Domelovo was Friday sworn into office by President Mahama who tasked him to focus on putting in place safeguards to check misappropriation of public funds as against sanctions.
President Mahama urged Mr Domelovo to be guided by the National Anti-Corruption action plan which he said hinges on three key principles; prevention, education and prosecution.
He said the implementation of the plan should focus more on prevention and education as against prosecution, noting that is believed to be the best practice to prevent corruption from taking place.
“…In discharging your job, your emphasise is not on sanctions but on trying to prevent, creating the systems that prevents misappropriation of public funds from taking place in the first place,” he advised.
President Mahama said, nonetheless, whoever misapplies public funds should not be spared but should be sanctioned per the laws of the land saying “Of course when it has happened it is important for us to sanction whoever has undertaken that”.
He has also urged Mr Domelovo work with the government to ensure able to probity and accountability in the public service in order to minimise the misuse of government funds and property.
President Mahama also underscored the need for the new Auditor General to collaborate with all the relevant stakeholders to ensure a successful delivery of his mandate.
He’s highly qualifiedThe president described Mr Domelovo as someone who is highly qualified for the position considering his years of rich professional experience, noting it took a lot of search to discover him as the best person for the job.
“Given your rich professional experience and I know you worked with the Accountant General’s Department for so many years and you’re very highly qualified.
“It took quite a search to eventually discover you and I believe you have all that it takes to be able to discharge your new function with excellence,” he said.
President Mahama has meanwhile assured of the government’s support, saying “I want to assure you that government will work with you, cooperate with you so that you can discharge your constitutional mandate in interest of the people of Ghana.”
Mr Domelovo told journalists after his swearing-in that he is humbled by the appointment and promised to discharge his duties and responsibilities without fear or favour to the best of his ability.
“I’m humbled by this appointment which I accept wholeheartedly and I want to assure my fellow Ghanaians that I’ll discharge the duties and the responsibilities attached to this office to the best of my ability without fear or favour affection or ill will”.
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