President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday suffered another major setback when an Accra Fast Track High Court quashed his directive that sought to get the former Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Albert Anthony Ampong, interdicted.

The court, presided over by Justice Kwame Asiedu, said the directive asking the Chief Director to be interdicted over the Muntaka ‘pampers’ saga, was unconstitutional and a reckless violation of the rights of Mr Ampong.

The government, had in recent times, suffered a series of legal defeats, raising eyebrows about some of its actions.

Earlier, Principal Accountant of the Ministry had also floored President Mills over the same issue in a different court, with presiding Judge, Justice Mrs. Novisi Aryene, ruling that “with all due respect, the President acted unconstitutionally”.

The two civil servants of the Ministry of Youth and Sports were interdicted on the orders of the President.

Justice Kwame Asiedu described the interdiction as a gross violation of Mr Ampong’s human rights.

The former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, had been accused of profligate spending when he was at post, leading to the accountant blowing the lid on the former minister’s recklessness- a situation that earned them the interdiction.

Justice Asiedu, in his ruling on the judicial review filed by the Chief Director, said the President lacked the power to call for disciplinary sanctions against the top civil servant because that was the work of the Civil Service Council.

He therefore quashed the decision of the President in calling for the interdiction of the Director as well as his interdiction by the Head of the Civil Service and ordered that he be reinstated to his former position.

In addition, he quashed the decision of the President to charge the Director GH¢20,000, which was said to have been lost as a result of his negligence.

Justice Asiedu noted that he would not issue a mandamus but stressed that if there was any case for the Director to answer, the right procedure should be followed, as the procedure of interdiction in the Civil Service was seriously breached and never followed, adding that it was arbitrary and in contravention of the laws guiding the Civil Service.

Giving reasons for his verdict, the Judge noted that Mr. Ampong was only called as a witness at the sitting of the committee which was set up to investigate the alleged malfeasance on the part of the then Minister of Youth and Sports, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, and was never charged with any offence.

The judge described the National Security Report which implicated the applicant as an illegality as far as the Director was concerned, because it was not set up to investigate him.

He likened it to a case where an accused person was being tried and the judge ended up jailing a witness and noted that there were procedures which should be followed, of which the President was not a part of.

Explaining further, Justice Asiedu stated that the Committee should not have been the body to investigate the applicant nor make any findings against him, but it should have rather been the Civil Service Council, arguing that there was procedural impropriety and this made the action illegal.

Furthermore, Justice Asiedu noted that the applicant was entitled to a fair hearing even if there was anything for him to answer, adding that the natural and unalienable right of the applicant could not be taken for granted.

The Principal Accountant at the Ministry, Adim Odoom, who blew the lid off the alleged malfeasance of the former Minister, had earlier won his judicial review, after he was also interdicted on the orders of the President.

Source: Daily Guide

Tags: Accra Fast Track High Court, president mills