Labour consultant Austin Gamey has urged President Nana Akufo-Addo to apologize for his unconstitutional directive to former Auditor-General Daniel Domelovo, ordering him to take leave.
Gamey expressed surprise that the President had not yet taken appropriate action following the Supreme Court’s declaration of the directive as unconstitutional.
During an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on June 26, Gamey stated, “I am surprised they have not done it yet. To be honest with you, error means error, and when that error remains, it is not a fine thing.”
Gamey highlighted that in other countries, the President and his party would have faced consequences for such actions.
However, he noted that Ghana’s traditional partisan nature might limit the repercussions in this case.
The Supreme Court ruled that the practice of directing public service workers to proceed on leave should be discontinued.
This decision followed an earlier ruling by the Court, which deemed the President’s directive to Domelovo as unconstitutional.
The Court also determined that appointing someone to act as the Auditor-General at that time was an error.
Gamey emphasized that although the harm had already been done, it was not too late for the President to apologize to the Ghanaian people.
He suggested that the Chief of Staff should initiate the apology by writing to the President and making it public.
Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu also supported calls for the President to apologize, stating that it would demonstrate remorse for the constitutional breach.
He suggested that the President’s composite apology should encompass the Domelovo case and the economic decline the nation has experienced.
In July 2020, the presidency instructed Domelovo to take leave based on the assertion that he had reached the national retirement age of 60. Domelovo challenged the legality of the directive, resulting in an extension of his leave from 123 days to 167 days.
The Supreme Court’s recent unanimous decision declared the presidency’s directive unconstitutional but did not issue any other orders, as Domelovo had already retired.
Domelovo welcomed the ruling, stating that it affirmed his stance that the President’s actions regarding his forced leave were misguided.
The Supreme Court further emphasized that the practice of directing public service workers to proceed on leave should no longer be allowed.