A seven-member Supreme Court panel has dismissed an application seeking an order of the court to compel some former ministers in the erstwhile Mahama administration who were also MPs, to pay back to the State, alleged double salaries they received when they were in office.
The application was filed by the Bono regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye DC.
The highest court in the land presided over by Justice Nene Amegatcher reached this decision on Wednesday (9 November 2022), explaining that the applicant in his application, did not properly invoke the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
The applicant invoked the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court based on Articles 78 (3) and 98 (1) of the 1992 constitution, seeking interpretation of same.
Constitutional provision
Article 78 (1) states that; “a Minister of State shall not hold any other office of profit or emolument whether private or public and whether directly or indirectly unless otherwise permitted by the Speaker acting on the recommendations of a committee of Parliament on the ground-
(a) that holding that office will not prejudice the work of a Minister; and
(b) that no conflict of interest arises or would arise as a result of the Minister holding that office.
Article 98 (1) on the other hand states that “a member of Parliament shall be paid such salary and allowances and provided with such facilities as may be determined in accordance with article 71 of this Constitution”.
The applicant based on these provisions sought an interpretation from the Supreme Court in relation to the allegation of double salary paid to the former Ministers who were also serving members of Parliament.
AG opposition
However, the Attorney General opposed the application, noting that the two constitutional provisions that have been invoked by the applicant do not raise any conflicts that require interpretation by the Supreme Court.
The provisions according to the AG, are straightforward and to that end, they prayed the apex court to dismiss the application.
By court
By unanimous decision, the seven-member Supreme Court panel ruled that they agree with the argument of the AG that the constitutional provisions cited by the applicant do not require their interpretation. The court concluded that their jurisdiction has not properly been invoked.
“The writ has no merit whatsoever and it is therefore dismissed,” the Supreme Court panel of seven ruled.
However, the court was of the view that there are avenues other than the Supreme Court that the applicant can explore to have his argument addressed.
The Supreme Court panel, apart from the presiding judge, was manned by Justices Nii Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Amadu Tanko, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Yonny Kulendi.
Background
The double salary scandal was triggered by an audit of payroll data from the Office of the President as well as another review, of the Parliamentary Service Board, from 2012 through 2016.
The audit reports showed that certain former appointees doubling as MPs, who at various points also served as ministers or deputy ministers received double salaries at least once a month or throughout the four-year tenure under review.
The CID in 2018 said the double salaries saga “is contrary to Section 124 (1) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) as amended in 2012 (Act 849). Section 124 relates to the offence of stealing”.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) tried to water down the issue by claiming that it was a salary “top-up”, but investigations showed that most of the affected appointees were taking two different pay slips from different organs of state (executive and legislature) at the same time using different bank accounts.
The monthly pay slips were coming from the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB) and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), designated as the Office of the President.
When the police commenced investigations, most of the ex-ministers cited honoured the invitation of the police to explain issues to them.
For instance, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the MP for Ellembelle who doubled as a former minister of energy and petroleum; Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, then the MP for Kpone Katamanso, who was the Greater Accra regional minister as well as former minister of state in charge of social and allied institutions; and Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansah, who is MP for Ada East, were interrogated by the CID
A certain Bashir Fuseini Alhassan, the MP for Sagnarigu and a former deputy Northern regional minister, was also at CID Headquarters to write a statement before he was admitted to bail. So was the second deputy Minority chief whip, Eric Opoku, who is the NDC MP for Asunafo South and a former Brong-Ahafo regional minister.
Inusah Fuseini, then MP for Tamale Central and Minister of Roads and Highways; Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, a former Minister of Transport and then MP for Ketu South; Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, a former Minister of State at the Presidency and MP for Wa Central; and Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, a former Central Regional Minister and former MP for Mfantseman West, were also asked questions by the police over the alleged scandal.
Three others including Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, former Minister of Youth and Sports who doubles MP for Odododiodioo; and Alhassan Azong, former Minister of State in charge of Public Sector Reforms and former People’s National Convention MP for Builsa South as well as Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President John Mahama and NDC MP for Bolgatanga East, were also at the CID Headquarters to give an account on the case.
Per the list provided in 2018, the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu whose name reportedly popped up in the list with employee number 712534 and the net salary was around GH¢8099.37, is not known to have visited the police to give a statement.
For Alhassan Azong, his employee number was 712536 and was purportedly taking a monthly net salary of about GH¢8160.07 lodged into his account at Bolgatanga whilst Fifi Fiavi Kwetey with employee number 713809 was receiving a monthly salary of around GH¢8160.07 into his account at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra.
Eric Opoku with employee number 713977 was allegedly taking about GH¢8160.07 monthly at his account in one of the troubled banks in Accra whilst Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo was 714107 and the net salary was reportedly around GH¢8160.07 lodged at a bank at Kwame Nkrumah Circle while Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah with employee number 714197 was purportedly receiving around GH¢8386.87 monthly drawing at a distressed bank on the Spintex Road.
Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye with employee number 725100 was allegedly receiving a monthly salary of about GH¢7594.49 into his bank at Ring Road Central, Accra while Mark Owen Woyongo a former Defence Minister who reportedly detected the anomaly at a point and alerted the authorities had the employee number 71521 and was taking around GH¢8861.25 monthly lodged into his bank at Adabraka.
Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansah with employee number 920242 allegedly received about GH¢8160.07 at a bank at Dansoman Branch while Aquinas Tawiah Quansah with employee number 830211 was reportedly taking around GH¢7594.49 into his bank at University of Cape Coast.
Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, a leading member of the NDC at the time, appealed to the President to take the alleged stealing case from the CID, saying that the case was purely an employer-employee relationship.