December 11, 2019
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This Supreme Court of Ghana case concerns two Ghana Highway Authority officials in the Western Region—one a Maintenance Engineer and the other a Quantities Manager—whose roles included inspecting sites, taking field measurements, and preparing Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) for road contractors. After the Ministry of Transportation and GHA uncovered widespread payment irregularities, including certifications for unexecuted works on roads such as the Sefwi Bekwai By-Pass, Tarkwa Town roads, and the Bekado access road, GHA convened a disciplinary committee. The committee found dishonesty and proposed demotion or removal with benefits, but management dismissed both under Article 49(D). The High Court granted reinstatement and benefits; the Court of Appeal reversed but abated punishment to removal with full benefits. On appeal, a unanimous Supreme Court (opinion by Amegatcher JSC, with Gbadegbe JSC presiding, and Appau, Dordzie, and Kotey JJSC concurring) dismissed the appellants’ claims, restored summary dismissal with forfeiture, rejected defenses of superior orders and lack of loss, and ordered retrieval of any terminal benefits paid.
JUDGMENT
THE UNANIMOUS JUDGMENT OF THE COURT IS READ BY AMEGATCHER JSC, AS FOLLOWS:-
The Directive Principles of State Policy in the 1992 Constitution embraces the life of the nation. It is the policy document by which the state is to create social and economic conditions for the citizens to lead a good life. Article 35 for example mandates the State to provide adequate facilities for and encourage, free mobility of people, goods and services throughout Ghana. Good road networks linking the country together is one of the ideals the State intended achieving under the Directive Principles.
In 1997, Parliament passed the Ghana Highway Authority Act, 1997 (Act 540) establishing the Authority as one of the agencies under the Ministry of Transportation. Among others, the objectives of the Authority are to plan, develop, maintain, protect, administer and provide safe and adequate infrastructure for road transportation commensurate with the economic development of the country. The Authority is also charged to carry out, either through its employees or through independent contractors, the necessary routine periodic and emergency road maintenance activities in accordance with the service level of maintenance established for each class or type of trunk road.
For the purposes of effective implementation of its functions, the Authority, opened up departments and divisions manned by directors and such other officers and employees as may be necessary for the proper and effective performance of its mandate in all the regions of the country. It is to one of such departments that the 1st and 2nd appellants were employed as Maintenance Engineer and Quantities Manager respectively in charge of the Western Region.
Sometime in 2005, the Ministry of Transportation had information concerning specific roads in the Western Region where it appeared that the road contractors were paid contract sums for no work done. The Ministry was worried because in spite of billions of Cedis spent by Government each year in periodic and routine maintenance works to improve the road network conditions, the outcome did not seem to be commensurate with the huge maintenance expenditure being made, and this kept rising year after year.
The Ministry, therefore, set up a committee and Monitoring Task Force which investigated the matter and made its findings and recommendations. The findings revealed that a total amount of Two Billion, Three Hundred and Seventy-Six Million, One Hundred and Thirty-Ei