A former Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo, has exposed Nii Ayikoi Otoo, the lead counsel for the former Chief Justice (CJ), Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, refuting claims that he sat on a credible evidence meant for the Committee that saw her removal.
According to Domelevo, who was a member of the Justice Gabriel Scot Pwamang led 5-member Committee, the said documents, presented by former Attorney General and Minister of Justice and lead counsel for Justice Torkornoo, was fake.
Breaking his silence on the matter since the Committee concluded it finding and presented to President John Dramani Mahama, resulting in Justice Torkornoo’s removal, Domelevo said he found the claim interesting.
Speaking exclusively on the KSM Show hosted by Kwaku Sintim Misa, the now board chairman of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) said the so called document showed that it was signed by the Judicial Secretary.
“Let us come to Mr Ayikoi Otoo’s account of me, I find it very interesting. He said he has provided all the evidence to Mr Domelevo, a former Auditor-General, and I sat there and didn’t take it. I want to put it on record that he provided us with evidence that was fake. It will interest you to know that it is the junior of the Chief Justice, the Judicial Secretary, who appointed the Chief Justice; that letter that he produced was signed by the Judicial Secretary her as Chief Justice”, he said.
In essence, the document apparently did not represent the travel policy for the judiciary.
His response comes in the wake of Ayikei Otto’s earlier outburst that the committee disregarded critical evidence, including the judiciary’s official travel policy.
In an interview on Joy FM on Monday, September 1, the same day the Committee’s report was presented to the president and the suspended CJ was removed, Ayikoi Otoo insisted that Justice Torkornoo’s request to embark on vacation was fully compliant with established entitlements and procedures.
“When these entitlements come, it is not for you to determine anything. You only decide whether you want to travel. Once you indicate, the officers work out your entitlements and bring them to you. You are not personally involved,” he said indicating that the removed CJ did not allocate the allowances in which she was being probed to herself.
According to him, the judiciary’s travel policy—submitted in evidence during the hearings—clearly allows a Chief Justice to travel with a companion of their choice, particularly in situations where there is no spouse. He noted that previous Chief Justices had also exercised this option.
“The travel policy was submitted, but the committee never referred to it. She was entitled to travel with one person of her choice, and she did so,” he said.
He flaged claims that the action of Justice Torkornoo financial impropriety saying that if indeed she did anything wrong, the issue should have been looked into by auditors instead of making it grounds for her removal.
“Assuming it was wrongly given, is that not why you have auditors? They should surcharge you if you took something unlawfully. Is that a ground for removal?” he asked, stressing that the Judicial Secretary, not the Chief Justice, is the designated spending officer.
Expressing disbelief at the committee’s findings, he singled out the role of Daniel Domelevo regretting his action. “I’m surprised Daniel Domelevo, a former Auditor-General, was on it.
He heard us, he saw the evidence. Yet in the face of all this, they still concluded she misappropriated money. Which money?” he questioned.
By Gifty Boateng