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February 26, 2025
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
PWAMANGJSC:
BACKGROUND OF THE APPEAL
My Lords, this case arose out of the exercise of the power of disallowance conferred on the respondent/respondent/respondent (the respondent) under article 187(7) of the Constitution, 1992, which provides that on the audit of any public accounts, the Auditor-General (AG) may disallow any item of expenditure which is contrary to law and surcharge the amount disallowed upon the person responsible for incurring the expenditure. It is further provided under Article 187(9) that a person aggrieved by a disallowance or surcharge by the AG may appeal to the High Court. In October, 2019, the applicant/appellant/appellant (the applicant) felt aggrieved by the respondent's disallowance of its claims for payments for services it rendered to the Office of the Controller and Accountant General (the Controller).
However, the applicant did not seek redress through an appeal as provided for under Article 187(9) of the Constitution. It sought remedy by a motion filed pursuant to Article 33 of the Constitution, which provides for the Protection of Rights by the High Court. The ground for the motion was that the applicant's rights to Administrative Justice guaranteed by Article 23 of the Constitution were violated by the respondent in the process of exercising its power of disallowance and it wanted the disallowance quashed.
The respondent objected to the procedure adopted by the applicant arguing that, since the Constitution as part of the provisions of Article 187 provided a remedy in the form of appeal, the applicant was not entitled to seek redress by any other procedure. The trial High Court upheld this objection and struck out the applicant's motion saying its jurisdiction was not properly invoked. On an appeal, the majority of the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court and dismissed the appeal stating that the applicant adopted a wrong procedure in seeking remedy. The dissenting Court of Appeal Judge however approved of the applicant's invocation of Article 33 of the Constitution, and further held that the respondent indeed violated the Administrative Justice rights of the applicant and allowed the appeal.
Facts
The facts of this case are not subject to much controversy. The applicant at all times material was a computer software company that was engaged by the Controller in 2008 to provide it maintenance support for government's Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) at an annual fee. This agreement run without any
AI Generated Summary
This Supreme Court of Ghana appeal concerns a contractors challenge to the Auditor-Generals disallowance of claims arising from services provided to the Controller and Accountant-Generals Department under IPPD-related agreements. The Auditor-General disallowed payments without notifying or hearing the contractor, and the Ministry of Finance withheld payment citing the 2016 audit report. The contractor sought certiorari and damages under Article 33, alleging violations of administrative justice under Article 23. The High Court struck out the motion, and a 2:1 Court of Appeal majority dismissed the appeal for use of the wrong procedure, though a dissent found a rights violation. The Supreme Court held that appeal under Article 187(9) is not exclusive; Article 33s human rights jurisdiction remains available. It read a prior hearing requirement into Article 187(7), quashed the disallowance, ordered payment of GHS 5,047,186.65 with interest, clarified that private persons may be subject to disallowance and surcharge, and directed the Auditor-General to adopt procedures that give affected persons a fair opportunity to respond.