The Supreme Court ruled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo broke the 1992 Constitution when he ordered a former Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, to depart on leave in 2020.
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court reached unanimity yesterday in ruling that the President's appointment of an interim Auditor-General while Mr. Domelevo was still in office was unconstitutional.
"We declare the directive by the President appointing an acting Auditor-General when the substantive Auditor-General had not retired or been removed from office purportedly in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution as unconstitutional, null, and void," the court said.
Constitutionally unsound order
The court, after careful consideration, held that the President's order for Mr. Domelevo to continue on leave, which was stated in a letter dated June 29, 2020 and signed by Nana Bediatuo Asante, Executive Secretary to the President, was invalid since it violated Articles 70 (1), 187 (7) (a), (12), and (13), as well as Section 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Constitution's Article 70 (1) addresses the President's authority to select certain public officials, including the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General shall not be subject to any control or direction in the discharge of his duties, according to Article 187(7)(a).
The Auditor-General's pay, allowances, and right to take time off during his term in office cannot be changed to his detriment by Article 187(12), whereas Article 187(13) specifies that he can only be removed from office in accordance with the procedure outlined in Article 146 of the Constitution for the removal of Justices of the Superior Court.
No follow-up orders
However, as requested by the plaintiffs, the nation's top court did not issue any follow-up orders or impose an injunction on the president's decision.
Mr. Domelevo had retired, in the court's opinion, making the plaintiffs' requests for such relief moot.
The court indicated the entire justifications for its choice would be filed at the court register by June 21 of this year, but it did not immediately provide them.
The seven-member panel was led by Justice Nene Amegatcher and included Justices Prof. Nii Ashie-Kotey, Mariama Owusu, and Avril Lovelace-Johnson. Members include Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, Joy Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, and Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo.
Nine civil society organisations brought the lawsuit that resulted in the ruling.
They are the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Citizen Movement Ghana, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), and the Parliamentary Network Africa.
Penplusbytes, the Media Foundation for West Africa, SEND Ghana, and the One Ghana Movement are some further examples.
Background
President Akufo-Addo ordered Mr. Domelevo to use his 123 accrued leave days from 2017 to 2019 as of July 1 of that year on June 29, 2020.
In a letter dated July 3, 2020, Mr. Domelevo responded to the President and urged him to reevaluate his choice.
was not in the best interests of the Office of the Auditor-General and the whole country and was unconstitutional.
In a second letter from the President, dated July 4, 2020, and bearing Mr. Bediatuo's signature, the President increased Mr. Domelevo's vacation by 44 days by including the leave days for 2020, bringing the total leave days to 167.
The nine CSOs invoked the Supreme Court's original authority to interpret and uphold the 1992 Constitution after repeated requests by CSOs and other interest groups for the President to rethink his decision failed to materialise.
The President's order for Mr. Domelevo to take a leave of absence and the appointment of Johnson Akuamoah applied to the CSOs.
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