The Supreme Court has in a unanimous decision described as unconstitutional the directive from the Presidency that former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo must proceed on leave. The court also described the President’s appointment of an Acting Auditor General while there was a substantive Auditor-General as equally unconstitutional. The Presidency in July 2020 asked the then Auditor General to proceed on leave. When Mr Domelevo indicated this as unlawful, his leave was further extended from 123 days to 167 effective July 1, 2020. Nine Civil Society Groups sued the Attorney General over these directives. They included the Centre for Democratic Development, Ghana Integrity Initiative, Citizen Movement Ghana, Africa Center for Energy Policy, and Parliamentary Network Africa. They contended that the directives were unlawful since the President did not have the power to exercise such disciplinary control over independent bodies. The Court, however, opted not to issue any other orders, including stopping Mr Domelevo from proceeding on leave since he has since retired. The case was heard by Justices Nene Amegatcher, Prof Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Lovelace Johnson, Getrude Torkonoo, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu and Emmanuel Kulendi.
Source: Ghana News Agency