Supreme Court has thrown out a suit by Kwame Baffoe a.k.a. Abronye DC, which was challenging the constitutionality by some former Ministers , Deputy Ministers and MPs for allegedly collecting double salary.
The court said its jurisdiction had not been adequately invoked, and that specific constitutional provisions in articles 78 and 98 called into question did not actually require interpretation.
According to the court, the writ was frivolous as it does not raise any issue for interpretation.
The Attorney General urged the Court to strike out the application, as it did not properly invoke the original jurisdiction of the land’s highest court.
Reading the ruling of the Court, His Lordship Nene Amegatcher said “the writ has no merit or whatsoever, and it is hereby dismissed.”
The president said the Court was minded to award costs personally against lawyers for Abronye DC “due to the frivolous nature of the writ”.
His Lordship, however, said the Court was persuaded against the action so as “not to discourage Ghanaians from filing constitutional cases.”
The other members of the Court were Justices Nii Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Amadu Tanko, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Yonny Kulendi.
Responding to the court’s decision, Mr. Baffoe said he was not disturbed or disappointed.
“We are going to put our house in order and come back. Either we are coming back to the Supreme Court for enforcement instead of interpretation, or we will go to the High Court to seek for relief that the said payment was illegal,” he added.
He wanted a declaration that per Article 98 of the Constitution, the MPs were not entitled to double salaries without the express permission of the Speaker of Parliament acting on the recommendation of a committee of Parliament and, therefore, ought to be declared unconstitutional.
