NO 37628 GC 2, DAVISON ADOM OBERY & ANOR VS INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE & ANOR
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE DANIEL MENSAH.
Areas of Law
- Employment Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Administrative Law
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involves two police officers who were dismissed from the Ghana Police Service after arresting fuel smugglers. The officers claimed their dismissal was unlawful and sought reinstatement. The court found that the officers' actions in arresting the smugglers were lawful and proper, and that there was insufficient evidence to support allegations of extortion against them. The court declared the dismissal unlawful, set it aside, and ordered the immediate reinstatement of the officers to the police service. The case highlights important principles regarding the duties of police officers, the standard of evidence required in disciplinary proceedings, and the constitutional protection of public officers against unjust removal. The court also discussed the general reluctance to grant specific performance in employment contracts, but found that reinstatement was appropriate in this case due to the unlawful nature of the dismissal.
The plaintiff's claim is for:
(a) A declaration by the court that their dismissal was unlawful and that same be set aside and the plaintiffs reinstated.
(b) A declaration that the presence of the Divisional Commander as a witness at the service inquiry trial of the plaintiffs impugned against the rule of natural justice since he was a member of the Upper East Disciplinary Board that recommended the 14 days confinement of the 2nd plaintiff and their dismissal from the service.
(c) Any other relief that the court may consider appropriate.
Per the claim filed by the plaintiffs in this court, the following facts emerged. The plaintiffs were service personnel of the Ghana Police Service until their dismissal from the service in 2012. Prior to this, they were both stationed at Bawku District of the Ghana Police Service in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
On the 18th day of July, 2010, the 1st plaintiff was at a checkpoint at Missiga when the 2nd plaintiff, G/Constable Arhin, called to inform him that he had information that some people were engaging in the smuggling of fuel at Pusiga filling station to Burkina Faso. Upon receiving the information, the plaintiffs moved into a hideout to see whether the information received was credible or not.
The plaintiffs were there when they saw the smugglers turn up with four donkey carts, each containing 25 jerry cans, bringing the total to 100 jerry cans. According to the 1st plaintiff, he tried calling their station officer, but his line could not get through, and because he was not having the District officer's telephone number, he called the Divisional Crime officer and informed him about the arrest. The Divisional Crime officer told the 1st plaintiff that he would inform the Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Peprah Boadu, to see whether the service vehicle was available or not.
According to the plaintiffs, at about 1:50 am on the 19th of July, 2010, one Rasta and three others came to claim ownership of the fuel that was being smuggled out to Burkina Faso. The plaintiffs arrested the smugglers for the smuggling of fuel and a breach of the curfew that was then in force within Bawku and its environs.
The plaintiffs aver that not long after Rasta had come to claim ownership of the fuel being smuggled, the District Commander appeared at the scene and asked whether they (the plaintiffs) were CID meant to make an arrest and demanded to know what the plaintiffs were doing there. The plaintiffs say that the Dist