Former Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo is calling for a bold shift in how Ghana handles asset declarations by public officials.
Speaking at the Constitution Review Committee’s stakeholder engagement on anti-corruption in Accra on Monday, April 14, 2025, Domelevo pushed for a constitutional amendment that would relieve the Auditor-General’s office of the duty to manage these declarations.
“When I assumed office, my first question was: what if a court orders the opening of a sealed declaration and finds newspaper clippings inside?
“How would I prove I didn’t insert them?” he questioned, highlighting the serious flaws in the current system.
According to Domelevo, the very nature of a declaration implies visibility — someone must actually see what is being declared for the process to be meaningful.
He argued that the current paper-based system, which keeps these declarations sealed and largely unchecked, does little to prevent corruption.
“Declaration to someone implies that the person must see what is being declared. Paper filings alone won’t stop corruption,” he stressed.
He further noted that expecting the Auditor-General to effectively oversee asset declarations pulls attention away from the core mandate of the office.
“Any Auditor-General will naturally focus on auditing public accounts, because that is the core mandate,” he added.
