A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Nene Amegatcher on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, dismissed an application filed by Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye DC, the New Patriotic Party, NPP’s Bono East regional chairman.
The application which has come to be known as the ‘Double Salary scandal’ was seeking an order to compel some former ministers in the erstwhile John Evans Atta Mills and the John Dramani Mahama administrations to refund some monies to the state.
The defendants in the cases were persons who served as Members of Parliament in addition to their ministerial portfolios.
The court, however, ruled that Abronye in his application did not properly invoke the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
It explained that Article 98 of the 1992 Constitution bars Members of Parliament from holding any other office of profit or emolument, be it private or public, and whether directly or indirectly.
Unless with the permission of the Speaker; and on the grounds that the conflict-of-interest concerns are not triggered and that the MP’s core responsibilities are not prejudiced.
The case targeted MPs who served as Ministers/Deputy Ministers under the Mills-Mahama administrations, spanning 2009 and 2016.
The defendants in the case were current Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, Alhassan Azong, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, Eric Opoku, Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, Mark Owen Woyongo, Comfort Doyoe Ghanasah, and Aquinas Tawiah Quansah.
The rests are the Controller and Accountant General and Attorney General.
SARA/PEN