Former Attorney-General and counsel for former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, Ayikoi Otoo, has responded to claims by former Auditor-General Daniel Domelovo that he presented fake evidence during the committee’s proceedings on Madam Torkonoo.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, October 7, Mr. Otoo said he was taken aback by what he described as the increasingly political posture of the former Auditor-General.
“I have listened to him; I was surprised at what he is doing. I didn’t know him to be that political, but I see him as only wearing political glasses…,” he remarked.
Read also: Ayikoi Otoo submitted “fake evidence” during Torkonoo’s probe – Domelovo claims
Mr. Otoo’s comments come after Mr. Domelovo, who served as a member of the committee that investigated petitions against former Chief Justice Torkonoo, accused him of submitting a fake document during the proceedings.
Reacting to the allegation, Mr. Otoo dismissed the claim. He explained that his earlier comments about audit procedures had been taken out of context.
“This was the context. There was an audit report which raised certain issues. Those findings were sent to the Judicial Secretary, who is the spending officer, and the Judicial Secretary explained, using the travel policy, why certain expenditures were made.”
He said that following the explanation, a management letter was issued, and the issues about alleged irregular expenditures were no longer raised, an indication that the explanations had been accepted.
“That management report is still available for everybody to read,” Mr. Otoo added. “This is where I brought in Domelovo. As an experienced and former Auditor-General, I was surprised he sat there quietly when I made reference to management letters and queries—issues he knows very well.”
According to him, even the Director of Finance confirmed during the proceedings that the matters had not reappeared in the management letter, yet Mr. Domelovo and his team later suggested that the Chief Justice was implicated in financial impropriety.
“How come at the end of it all, you come and tell us that she was not entitled to something?” Mr. Otoo asked. “This is the man who should know—he’s the one who understands audit processes and management letters. Yet they ignored all of that and in their report claimed the Chief Justice was involved in some financial irregularity.”
“Did I do anything wrong?” he asked. “I didn’t mention any other person’s name. I only referred to what happened in the audit process.”
