Deputy Information Minister, Pious Enam Hadzide

Government has said it has no agenda to hound the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo out of office.

Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide said the claims being propagated by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) are untrue and should not be paid any attention.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story, Mr Hadzide said the allegations are “a figment of the NDC’s own diabolic imagination.”

“It is totally untrue and maliciously fabricated. There is no such thing as a plot by this government or by any agency or persons working in government to do any such thing as removing anybody from office,” he added.

Last week, 21 civil society organisations backed the outspoken Auditor-General amid a controversial investigation by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

The Ghana Integrity Initiative, the local chapter of Transparency International, the Centre for Democratic Development, the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition among others in a statement said, there is some form of a plot to “teach the Auditor-General a lesson”.

The statement came amid an ongoing feud between the EOCO and the Auditor-General over alleged procurement breaches by the latter.

Domelevo has since dragged EOCO to court, questioning its mandate to investigate his office, insisting that the probe has ulterior motives.

The NDC agrees and is on the side of the position taken by the civil society organisations in support of Mr Domelevo.

At a press conference in Accra Monday, the party alleged that there is a grand plot by government-backed forces to remove the Auditor-General because of his uncompromising stance in exposing alleged corruption perpetrated by the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo.

But the Deputy Information Minister says neither government nor its related organisations have any such plans.

“The NDC offers no proof whatsoever in the allegations that they make. They claim that EOCO is acting at the behest of the Senior Minister without offering any proof, no evidence just malicious fabrications.

“These are not statements that any group of persons or media houses should pay any credence to. It should be disregarded,” he said.

Mr Hadzide believes the NDC only wants to politicise this matter and wants any such attempts to be condemned outright.

In his view, Mr Domelevo did the right thing by proceeding to court when he suspected that EOCO has no authority to investigate him.

“This unwholesome unwarranted politicisation of an otherwise straightforward legal matter is very worrisome that all well-meaning people should rise up against any attempt from any group to want to determine and direct how state agencies such as the courts, EOCO and Auditor-General’s office should be run.

“This is unacceptable,” he added.

Source: Myjoyonline.com