2004
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Thirteen candidates from Notre Dame Seminary Secondary School, Navrongo, challenged the West African Examinations Council’s cancellation of their entire SSSCE 2000 results and a three-year ban imposed after WAEC alleged foreknowledge and collusion in Mathematics (Core) Paper 2 based solely on script scrutiny. The headmaster petitioned, arguing procedural unfairness and offering explanations for answer similarities from common textbooks. WAEC maintained its position. The candidates, through Legal Resources Centre, brought an originating motion under article 33(1) seeking declarations that WAEC’s actions violated article 23. The Fast Track High Court granted relief and quashed WAEC’s decision; the Court of Appeal reversed, calling the procedure flawed. The Supreme Court, per Kpegah JSC with concurrences by Akuffo and Date‑Bah JJSC, adopted a liberal constitutional interpretation, held article 33(1) could be invoked by originating motion, found WAEC breached article 23 by denying notice and hearing, noted ultra vires sanctions, allowed the appeal, restored the High Court’s judgment, and awarded each appellant ¢5 million cedis in token damages; Twum JSC dissented on damages only.
J U D G M E N T
KPEGAH JSC. On 17 June 2004, this court allowed the appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal but reserved its full reasons to be given later. I now proceed to give my reasons why my vote was cast that the appeal be allowed.
The facts of this case are fairly simple and I do not think a detailed discussion or analysis of them is crucial to the determination of this appeal. The essential facts should not seriously be in dispute since the case was contested from the trial High Court to this court purely on legal grounds, both substantive and procedural, with the latter dominating and tilting the scales against the appellant in the Court of Appeal.
The case arises out of the decision of the Final Award Committee of the West African Examinations Council (hereinafter referred to as the council) not only to cancel the entire results of the appellants but also to ban them from taking part in any examinations conducted by it for three years. The facts, which in my view are essential for the determination of this matter, are briefly that the council is established by a convention between English-speaking West African countries which was later incorporated in the laws of Ghana by the West African Examinations Council Law, 1991 (PNDCL 225), with the sole authority to conduct, in member countries, such examinations as the council may think appropriate and to award certificates and diplomas based on the results of such examinations. The council, therefore, is the sole authority responsible in Ghana for the conduct of both the Junior Secondary Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) and Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSSCE).
Between October and December 2000, the council, as it normally does every academic year, conducted the Senior Secondary School Examinations throughout the country. The appellants were all candidates at this examination with their parent school, the Notre Dame Minor Seminary in Navrongo in the Upper East Region as their examination centre. While waiting for their results, the appellants were informed through the headmaster of the school about the cancellation of their entire result on the grounds that they had been involved in some examination malpractices or irregularities in relation to Mathematics (Core) Paper 2. The nature of the irregularities the appellants were said to have indulged in was that they had foreknowledge of the paper and colluded among themselves in solving the questions.
Upo