The President’s Office has nominated former Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) President Ali Rasheed Umar as the new Auditor General.
A Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-led no-confidence motion in Parliament saw former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem ousted from his post last month, shortly after he announced corruption allegations involving former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and senior members of both the former and current government.
Naeem was appointed as the first independent Auditor General in January 2008 by Gayoom, and his appointment was endorsed by the DRP-led Parliament. The post of Auditor General was created by Gayoom due to international pressure regarding the former government’s expenditure.
Umar was appointed president of the ACC in October 2008 and was head of the commission for eight months. Elections were then held for commission members, but he did not submit his name for the elections.
On 25 November 2008, Umar signed on behalf of the ACC, and Naeem as Auditor General, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for technical cooperation activities between the ACC and the Auditor General’s office. Both organisations were to exchange information and work together to eliminate corruption and promote good governance and accountability.
Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair confirmed Umar has been nominated by the president and his name has been forwarded to Parliament.
Zuhair said the Majlis should make their decision on whether or not they will endorse his nomination within the week.
“He is a qualified accountant and headed the ACC,” Zuhair said, adding that during the new government’s first week in office, Umar wanted to investigate the President’s Office’s financial records. “He performed very well [with the ACC].”
Zuhair added that Umar has no political affiliations to any party.
An on-going defamation case against Umar is in the Civil Court. Former member of the ACC Hassan Luthfee pressed charges against Umar for defamation, after Luthfee was accused of leaking ACC information for his personal gain.
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It is highly unlikely that President Nasheed would appoint anyone without political affiliation to MDP to such an influential and key posting of the State.