December 21, 2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This High Court consent judgment resolves a dispute brought by ten Plaintiffs, later joined by eleven additional persons, seeking recalculation and payment of gratuities under a formula approved by the President of Ghana in a letter dated 4 January 2013. The Plaintiffs asked for declaratory and consequential orders directing the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to calculate and pay according to that formula, together with interest, legal fees, and costs. After the Defendant filed a defence and the Plaintiffs replied, the parties indicated readiness to settle. The Court entered consent judgment based on terms requiring adherence to the President’s directive and the Supreme Court’s decision in Emmanuel Noble Kor v. Attorney-General; Justice Isaac Delali Duose. The Controller and Accountant–General must recalculate gratuities at four months per year of service, pay differences promptly, and there is to be no interest or costs, while legal fees are fixed at ten percent and paid by the Controller and Accountant–General.
The first ten Plaintiffs, per their Writ of Summons, filed on 21st October, 2014, claimed the following reliefs against the Defendant:
1. A Declaration that the Plaintiff and his class are entitled to be paid gratuities based on the formula approved by the President of Ghana in the letter dated 4th January, 2013.
2. An Order directed at the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to calculate the gratuities of the Plaintiff and his class based on the formula per the letter of 4th January, 2013 and pay same to the Plaintiff and his class less any purported gratuities already paid to them.
3. Interest on all sums adjudged due the Plaintiff and his class at the prevailing commercial bank rate from their respective retirement dates till the date of final payment.
4. Legal fees based on the approved Ghana Bar Association Scale of fees.
5. Costs.
The Defendant entered appearance and filed its Statement of Defence on 10th December, 2014. The ten Plaintiffs filed a Reply to the Defendant’s Statement of Defence on 6th January, 2015, and further filed for directions on 6th January, 2015. On 25th October, 2016, per a motion on notice for Joinder filed on 13th February, 2015, eleven persons were joined to the action.
Parties subsequently intimated to the Court their readiness to settle the case out of Court.
Per the terms of settlement filed on 16th December, 2016, Consent Judgment is hereby entered, in relation to the parties, in the following:
1. That the parties shall abide by and implement the directive of His Excellency the President contained in the letter dated 4th January, 2013 entitled “Implementation of Report of Professor Ewurama Addy Presidential Committee on emoluments” and addressed to the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana and the judgment of the Supreme Court in case number J1/16/2015 delivered on 10th March, 2016 and titled EMMANUEL NOBLE KOR VRS. 1) ATTORNEY-GENERAL (2) JUSTICE ISAAC DELALI DUOSE.
2. The Controller and Accountant – General shall within 30 days after the service on him of the Certificate of Judgment to be issued as a result of the entry of these terms as consent judgment re-calculate the gratuities of the Plaintiffs and their classes based on the formula of four (4) months for each year served as directed by His Excellency the President in his letter of 4th January 2013 and the judgment of the Supreme Court aforesaid and ensure that payment of all differences outstanding are effected in not more than two install