Presidential staffer draws in Atta Mills in Supreme Court ruling on Domelevo

Dennis Miracles Aboagye, a presidential staffer, has praised the Supreme Court of Ghana over its ruling that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s directive for former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo to proceed on forced leave was unconstitutional.

In a tweet shared on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, Aboagye, who is the director of Local Government Services at the Office of the President, said the court has shaped Ghana’s democracy with its ruling.

He, however, indicated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo asked Domelevo to proceed on leave only because he was following the precedence set by the late former President, Prof John Evans Atta Mills.

“NDC Government with President Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills in 2009 set the Governance precedence by asking the Auditor General Mr. Edward Dua Agyemang, to proceed on Leave effective 15th April, 2009 to take his accumulated leave of 264 days. And this was 14 years ago.

“Prez. Nana Akufo Addo based on the precedence set by the NDC Government asked the Auditor General to proceed on leave to take his accumulated leave of 123 days. The decision of the Supreme Court in the CDD v. Attorney-General case (the Domelevo case) strikes down a 14-year-old governance precedent established by President John Evans Atta-Mills in a letter dated 9 April 2009, which was followed by President Nana Akufo-Addo in a letter dated 29 June 2020.

“The decision is good for our constitutional democracy as it brings clarity to this practice in the public service where persons are asked to proceed on accumulated leave, especially when there is a change of power,” parts of the tweet read.

Background:

Ghana’s apex court, the Supreme Court, declared as unconstitutional, the directive by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in 2020, for the former Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Demelevo, to proceed on forced leave.

As can be recalled, the president, in a letter dated June 29, 2020, and signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, the former A-G was directed to take his accumulated leave.

The statement added that “The president’s decision to direct Mr Domelevo to take his accumulated leave is based on sections 20(1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which apply to all workers, including public office holders such as the Auditor-General.”

But after hearing a case brought before it by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and eight other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who described the move as an affront to the independence of the office, the Supreme Court has ruled that the move was unconstitutional.

According to a report by citinewsroom.com, the decision by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to Daniel Yao Domelevo in 2020 to take his 169 working days of accumulated leave was null and void.

View the tweet shared by Miracles Aboagye below:

SUPREME COURT OF GHANA SHAPING OUR GOVERNANCE AS THEY SHOULD - WAY TO GO

NDC Government with President Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills in 2009 set the Governance precedence by asking the Auditor General Mr. Edward Dua Agyemang, to proceed on Leave effective 15th April, 2009 to take… pic.twitter.com/1hm01rUZcJ

— Dennis Edward Aboagye (@DennisMiracles) May 31, 2023

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