Domelevo replies Akufo-Addo's directive on accumulated leave

The Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, has replied the directive from the President instructing him to proceed on leave.

The letter to the Presidency is urging President Akufo-Addo to reconsider the directive.

President Akufo-Addo on June 29 directed the Auditor General Daniel Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave.

Daniel Domelevo was to take a leave of 123 days.

A statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin said since his appointment December 30, 2016, he has taken only 9 working days of his accumulated annual leave.

The statement said the President's decision to direct Mr Domelevo to take his accumulated leave is based on sections 20(1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which apply to all workers, including public office holders such as the Auditor-General. According to the Act, a worker is entitled to annual leave with full pay, in a calendar year of continuous service, which cannot be relinquished or forgone by a worker or the employer.

READ ALSO : Akufo-Addo directs Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave 

But Domelevo in the letter said the directive breaches the labour law and is unconstitutional.

In the letter, he argued that based on recent labour law and practice, “no worker is deemed to have accumulated any leave on account of their having failed, omitted, neglected or even refused to enjoy their right to annual leave, which the law guarantees for their benefit, not the employer.”

“I consider it an honour to be of service to the State and urge that you reconsider the directive in order to protect the sanctity of the labour law, the constitution and the independence of the Auditor-General which is of utmost importance in so far as ensuring that the constitutional principles of probity, transparency and accountability are concerned,” he added.