2012
SUPREME COURT
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Mr. Kwabena Aboagye, a Ghanaian public sector employee whose career began with the Ghana Education Service in 1966 and later spanned the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation, National Investment Bank, and Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board, reached retirement age in 2002 and sought pension and end-of-service benefits under the Cap 30 scheme. After his employment ended at the Cocoa Marketing Board due to reorganization, he obtained a 2005 letter of condonation from the Head of Civil Service that treated his service as continuous from 1966 to 1980 for pension purposes. Aboagye argued the condonation should extend to 2002. The High Court ordered pension calculation for 19661980 and dismissed his review. The Court of Appeal affirmed. On further appeal, the Supreme Court (Date-Bah JSC authoring; Atuguba AG. CJ concurring) held that condonation only bridges breaks between employments within public service, not unemployment until retirement, found no condonation beyond 1980, rejected fresh evidence attached to the Statement of Case, and concluded the Attorney-Generals advisory letter did not assist. The appeal was dismissed.
J U D G M E N T.
DR. S. K. DATE-BAH JSC:
The plaintiff is a trained teacher who was employed by the Government of Ghana, through the Ghana Education Service, an agency of the Ministry of Education, in 1966. After serving in the Ghana Education Service till 1968, he was granted study leave without pay to study for an undergraduate degree at the University of Ghana, Legon. Upon completion of his degree in 1971, he was employed at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning from June to August 1971, at the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation from September 1971 to June 1976, at the National Investment Bank from May 1976 to October 1978 and, finally, at the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board, from November 1978 to October 1979. The plaintiff’s last employer in the public service was the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board, which terminated his employment because of a reorganization that the corporation had undertaken.
On attaining the retiring age of sixty in 2002, the plaintiff applied to the Ghana Education Service (‘GES’)for the payment of his pension and end-of-servive benefits. Because the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board had not redeployed him after his termination, the plaintiff applied in 2005 to the Head of the Civil Service through the Director-General of the GES for condonation of break in service. The plaintiff averred in his Statement of Claim that the Head of Civil Service granted the condonation of break in service through a letter dated 12th April 2005, thus making the plaintiff’s service continuous from 1966 to 10th November 2002. The actual text of the letter of condonation did not, however, support this assertion since that letter written by one W.K. Kemevor, on behalf of the Head of the Civll Service, and which was delivered to the High Court in compliance with Order 21 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 (CI 47) relating to discovery of documents stated that (at p. 34 of the Record):
“I wish to convey approval for the condonation of the break, which occurred in the service career of Mr. Kwabena Aboagye from 1971 to 1980 when he worked with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation, the National Investment Bank and finally the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board.
Consequently, Mr. Kwabena Aboagye’s service career is made continuous for pension purposes from 1966 to 1980.”
The main controversy in this case relates to whether the condonation extends to 2002, as averred by the Plaintiff, or whether it exte