Professor Ransford Gyampo, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has commended the Supreme Court’s decision describing the forced leave taken by a former Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo, as illegal.
The judgement was hailed as a win for democracy by Professor Gyampo, who was a member of the organizations that urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reverse his decision.
The presidency had ordered Domelevo to take 169 working days of accumulated leave in 2020. The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that it was illegal for President Akufo-Addo to require Domelevo to take a lengthy leave of absence.
The political science lecturer berated the President for acting without following the law, in an interview.
“I think it’s a victory for democracy and victory for good governance, it’s good for all of us as a people. My little worry is that, I’m not a lawyer but all that I can say is that it was a straightforward matter, we all knew. Even without reading the law, we knew that the President had no business acting the way he acted by ousting the former Auditor General. We drew his attention that what he did was illegal, it also shows that he didn’t have much respect for good governance, he ignored all of us and perpetuated this kind of thing.”
Prof. Ransford Gyampo
He questioned why it took the Supreme Court so long to issue its ruling.
“It shouldn’t have taken the Supreme Court all this while to handle such a simple matter, that even we non-lawyers knew that it was wrong. We knew the President goofed…It’s a great precedent they have set.
“Now you are saying what the President did was illegal but the man [Domelevo] cannot go back to act as Auditor General. So it’s deliberate that you allow bad governance to fester all these while…we should be thinking about some of these things. Justice delayed will allow bad governance to fester, sometimes some of these things should be handled expeditiously to ensure that bad things are not perpetuated in body politicking”.
Prof. Ransford Gyampo
He believed Mr. Domelevo ought to receive compensation.
“By all means, there should be some compensation, otherwise I wouldn’t know the relevance of the ruling,” Professor Gyampo suggested.
Ahiagbah Reacts To Domelevo’s Case
This is one of the ways Richard Ahiagbah, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) director of communications, chose to respond to the Supreme Court’s finding that Daniel Domelevo’s dismissal as Auditor-General was unconstitutional.
He stated in a tweet that; “The ruling in the Domelevo’s case is a repudiation of executive action including this action under late President John Atta Mills. The power of judicial review.”
Daniel Domelevo, the former Auditor-General, added that the Supreme Court decision declaring his departure from office unlawful should be used to judge the actions of the current administration and future ones.
He prayed that no other Auditor-General would go through what he had.
“To be honest with you that is very unfortunate from my point of view because the highest office of the land, the Office of the President should rather be seen as enforcing or complying with the laws of the land instead of being at the forefront of violating or breaking the laws.
“That is what disturbs me but I am happy to say that never again should that happen since it is the Supreme Court that has decided. I am sure it will be upheld by this government and subsequent governments so no Auditor-General may face or suffer what I suffered, that is my happiness.”
Danie Domelevo
