REPUBLIC v. AKYAMPONG

JUDGMENT OF ARCHER J.

The appellant pleaded guilty to a charge of pretending to be a public officer contrary to section 237 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), and he was convicted on his plea and sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labour. He has appealed against the sentence.

When the hearing commenced, I invited the state attorney to consider whether a scout commissioner was a public officer but the learned state attorney, after consideration, observed that a scout commissioner could not be classified as a public officer and he therefore informed the court that he could not support the conviction although he suggested that the appellant could have been charged under section 5 of the Boy Scouts' Association Ordinance, Cap. 265 (1951 Rev.), for falsely claiming to be connected with the Boy Scouts' Association.

The charge sheet stated that the appellant did falsely pretend to be a public officer, that is a scout commissioner sent by the Ghana Government to check school textbooks and money paid by certain school children at Efutu Akwaa village. The learned trial magistrate after having heard the facts ruled as follows:

"This court is satisfied that the Boy Scout Movement is governed by Cap. 265 (1951 Rev.), so that any post in the Boy Scout Movement is governed by an enactment under section 3 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), to make a scout commissioner a public officer within the meaning of Act 29 of 1960. I find that the charge is properly laid and on his plea of guilty he is convicted on the charge of pretending to be a public officer."

It is obvious that the trial magistrate's reasoning is contained in the above ruling. He took the view that any post which is governed by an enactment makes the holder a public officer. As the offence is created by the Criminal Code, I shall attempt to define a public officer. Section 32 (1) of the Interpretation Act, 1960 (C.A. 4), provides:

“‘public officer' means a member of any of the Public services, namely, the Civil Service, the Judicial Service, the Police Service, the Local Government Service, and such other services as may, pursuant to Article 51 of the Constitution, be constituted by Act of Parliament as Public Services of Ghana, and any other person declared by any enactment to be a public officer.”

The Criminal Code is an enactment and section 3 (1) of the Code also provides that, “‘Public officer’ includes any person holding an office by election or appointment under any enactment or u