The Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Centre for Democratic Development Ghana (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, says the Attorney General’s letter asking for the report on the Covid-19 audit to be unpublished is preposterous and an assault on the Auditor General.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godred Dame, in a letter to the Auditor General, described the publication of the audit report on the government’s expenditure of Covid-19 funds as premature.

The Attorney General said Article 187(5) of the Constitution mandates the Auditor-General to submit his report to Parliament and in that report, draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited.

He added that Article 187(6) of the Constitution requires that Parliament must then debate the report of the Auditor-General and appoint, where necessary and in the public interest, a committee to deal with any matters arising from it.

But Dr Pumpuni Asante in an interview with Citi News‘ Hanson Agyemang described the AG’s argument as “flawed, completely needless and illogical”.

“Some of us are shocked, this is completely unprecedented, we didn’t expect this again and for us, we consider this as an assault on the Auditor General again. For me this letter was shocking, and it was a very flawed argument that was being made by the attorney general. It is illogical in many ways.

“First of all the revelations in the Covid-19 audit which all of us must take seriously and we are all going to dedicate our time to make sure we get to the bottom of it, if it is causing the government embarrassment, they are making their matters worse by this route. I did not expect the Attorney General to use his office to roll us back from all the gains we have made in strengthening independent institutions and making them more effective…It is completely needless.”

“I think this is really preposterous, and it is something that shouldn’t be countenanced,” Dr Asante said.