Auditor General vs Presidency impasse: Austin Gamey backs Akufo-Addo

A labour consultant, Austin Gamey, has backed the government’s decision to ask the Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, to proceed on leave.

Gamey, who was speaking on the #AsaaseBreakfastShow, argued that the current constitution does not permit any individual to accumulate his or her leave, for how ever long a period.

“No one is expected to accumulate leave for even two days. We are not supposed to do that. The employer is not supposed to aid the worker to accumulate leave, neither should the worker.

“The law does not intend for the leave to be accumulated. So where is accumulation coming from in the first place?” he asked.

No accumulator

Asked the position of the law on such matters, Gamey said that it does not give room for any individual to accumulate leave.

“It is the responsibility of the human resource management to put together a draft leave roster for everybody. Before the end of the year, it would have been confirmed and that becomes the master leave roster, which must be religiously followed.

“Should the exigencies of the role played by anybody prevent them from taking their leave, they have the rest of the year to go on leave.

“If you cannot take your leave as scheduled on the leave roster, it can be adjusted for you to proceed on leave before the end of the year under review.

“It cannot be carried into the next year as an accumulated leave and this is not open to interpretation,” he told the hosts of the #AsaaseBreakfastShow.

No room for interpretation

Gamey further explained that the provisions of the constitution are not to be interpreted by individuals as might suit them.

“Nobody interprets the law as they deem fit. Interpretation is done only by the Supreme Court. It is an applied law.

“It is for this reason that we established the National Labour Commission to help them navigate such choppy waters if it is a human resource issue,” he concluded in his interview with Asaase Radio.

AG vs Akufo-Addo

On 29 June, President Akufo-Addo directed the Auditor General to proceed to take his accumulated leave of 123 days. Domelevo had taken only nine out of the 132 days of holiday allowed to him since he assumed office in December 2016.

However, on 3 July, Domelevo wrote a three-page letter to the president, asking him to reconsider the directive. Domelevo, who had proceeded on leave as directed, described the president’s action as unconstitutional and not in the best interest of the office of the Auditor General or, for that matter, Ghana.

In a remarkable twist, in a letter issued on Friday 3 July through his secretary, Nana Asante Bediatuo, the president increased Domelevo’s leave to 167 days from the original 123.

Victor Tamakloe

* Asaase Radio 99.5 – now live on your radio. Tune in or log on to broadcasts online.
#asaaseradio
#TVOL