Former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo has strongly urged the President to dismiss all government officials who failed to declare their assets after the expiry of the March 31 deadline.
Mr. Domelevo’s comments follow an investigative analysis by The Fourth Estate, which revealed that 55 government officials, representing 32% of President Mahama’s appointees, failed to declare their assets by the March 31 deadline.
He labelled the failure of the defaulting state officials as an act of indiscipline and a lack of regard for the President.
“The first thing is that this is gross indiscipline and disrespect, and in my considered opinion, the President should dismiss all of them without exception. The President made a public announcement, which was followed by a directive from the Chief of Staff,” Mr. Domelevo stated.
In The Fourth Estate analysis, the 55 government officials include ministers, deputy ministers, presidential staffers, and heads of state institutions who missed the deadline despite the President’s stern warning. Among them, eight out of 55 ministers and deputy ministers, eight out of 32 presidential staffers, and 38 out of 84 heads of institutions appointed between January 15 and March 18, 2025, failed to comply as of April 17, 2025.
High-profile defaulters on the list include Seth Terkper, Presidential Adviser on the Economy; Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, Special Envoy to the Alliance of Sahelian States; Nathan Kofi Boakye, Director of Operations at the Presidency; Charles Kipo, Director of the National Investigations Bureau; Nana Yaa Jantuah, Presidential Staffer; Alhassan Suhuyini, Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways; Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, Deputy Minister of Works and Housing; and John Dumelo, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture.
Also among the defaulters are Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and Dr. Peter Otukunor, Head of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness.
Mr. Domelevo criticised the action of the defaulters, stating that it flouts Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution, to the government’s mantra of resetting the country.
“This is not how to reset a country. If the team tasked to help the President manage the affairs of the country is so indisciplined that they do not respect the President, I think the axe must fall immediately. He should clear all of them. There are about 33 million Ghanaians and several capable people who can do the work,” he asserted.
Their default also flouts the President’s March 31, 2025 deadline, during which he publicly declared his own assets and liabilities on February 18, 2025, during a meeting with Auditor-General Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu at the Jubilee House.