NATIONAL LABOUR COMMISSION v. GHANA TELECOMMUNICATIONS LTD
2012
SUPREME COURT
CORAM
- WOOD (MRS,) C.J (PRESIDING)
- BROBBEY, JSC
- OWUSU (MS.), JSC
- YEBOAH, JSC
- BONNIE, JSC
Areas of Law
- Employment Law
- Administrative Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
2012
SUPREME COURT
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court of Ghana, in a unanimous judgment authored by Justice R. C. Owusu with Chief Justice G. T. Wood and Justices S. A. Brobbey, Anin Yeboah, and P. Baffoe-Bonnie concurring, dismissed the National Labour Commission’s appeal. The case arose after Ghana Telecommunications Ltd dismissed Williams Hayford Appiah, a former Senior General Manager and later chief officer, for misrepresenting his secondary school education. Appiah petitioned the National Labour Commission (NLC), which concluded his conduct fell under regulation 206(b) (concealment of facts), ordered conversion of dismissal to termination with accrued benefits, and sought High Court enforcement under section 172 of the Labour Act when Ghana Telecom did not comply. The High Court refused enforcement, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, finding the NLC’s order unjustified in law or fact and incomplete. On further appeal, the Supreme Court held that the High Court may scrutinize enforcement applications, that the NLC acted without jurisdiction by substituting regulation 206(b) for 144(iv), and that the NLC’s entitlements order was incomplete; the appeal was dismissed.
OWUSU (MS.) J.S.C:
This is an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal which affirmed the decision of the High Court refusing to enforce an order of the National Labour Commission under section 172 of the Labour Act of 2003, (Act 651.)
The commission as Applicant had gone to the High Court to seek enforcement of its order against Ghana Telecommunications Ltd, the Respondent herein after hearing a petition settling a dispute between the Respondent one Williams Hayford Appiah an Ex-employee of the Respondent.
Appiah was employed by the Respondent in January 2002 as Senior General Manager with the audit department of the company and later promoted to the rank of a chief officer.
Whiles in the employment of the Respondent, Appiah was asked to furnish management with his curriculum vitae which was to include but not limited to an outline indicated in the request.
In the outline is schools attended set out as follows:
“Name of Secondary/Technical/Commercial/Training College etc attended
Year of Entry
Year of completion
Sixth form?
Name of school
Year of entry
Year of completion”
Following this request, Appiah submitted a curriculum vitae indicating that between 1974 and 1981, he attended Benkum Secondary School, Larteh where he obtained his GCE “O” and “A” levels Certificates.
A follow up investigation revealed that Appiah did not attend Benkum Secondary School and indeed over the period stated by him, the school did not have a sixth form and has not offered a sixth form programme since its inception.
Rather, further investigations revealed that Appiah sat for and obtained the “O” and “A” level passes as a private student having attended private classes organized by some teachers of Benkum Secondary School. The passes were obtained one at a time between 1973-81.
For his conduct, he was charged in accordance with regulation 144 (iv) of the Staff Rules and Regulation of the company and a Board of Inquiry set up to investigate the matter found him guilty of the charge of fraud or other acts of dishonesty.
Following this, he was dismissed from the employment of the company by a letter dated 26th September 2007.
By a letter dated 5th February 2008, Appiah presented a complaint to the commission against his dismissal and prayed for the following orders –
“a. A declaration that the dismissal of the complainant from respondent’s employment is unfair.
b. An order compelling respondent to reinstate complainant with all his entitlements from 2