Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has praised the Supreme Court’s ruling which described a former Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo’s forced leave as unconstitutional.
Professor Gyampo who was part of the groups that called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to rescind his decision described the ruling as a victory for democracy.
The Supreme Court gave the ruling on Wednesday, saying the decision by President Akufo-Addo to force Domelevo to embark on an extended leave was unconstitutional.
In 2020, Domelevo was compelled by the presidency to take 169 working days of accumulated leave.
Speaking on the Eyewitness News on Citi FM with Umaru Sanda Amadu, the political science lecturer lambasted the President for acting without recourse to the law.
“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,” Professor Gyampo asserted.
He questioned why it took the Supreme Court years to deliver its verdict on the matter.
“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”.
He stressed, “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”.
He opined that Mr. Domelevo should be compensated.
“By all means, there should be some compensation, otherwise I wouldn’t know the relevance of the ruling,” Professor Gyampo suggested.
