The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed a suit filed by Member of Parliament for South Dayi Constituency Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, who was challenging the decision by government to have metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) remain in office in acting positions.
The suit followed a directive issued by the Chief of Staff, in 2021, for MMDCEs to remain at post until new ones were appointed.
It took the President well over nine months for the new ones to be appointed.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP had challenged the powers of the President to allow the MMDCEs to still be in office when a new government, though led by same person Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was in place.
“The MMDCE is not an office to be toyed with. I want to ask the President if he can appoint someone to act as a Supreme Court judge? Why didn’t the President ask persons to represent him in the ministries until he has finished with consultations? And the law permits a reasonable time to do that but if it is inordinately wrong, it becomes unacceptable,” Mr Dafeamekpor ranted on TV3‘s New Day in 2021, precisely on Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
“This is a breach of the constitution. You have asked people to go and serve in a certain capacity, the procedure by which you do that is contrary to the provisions in the constitution.”
He was seeking nine reliefs from the apex court of the land. Among this was that “all liabilities or obligations or demands placed on the Republic of Ghana as a result of the acts, decisions, orders, agreements or contracts entered into by the acting District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chiefs Executives during the period of their acting capacity are not binding on the Republic of Ghana”.
Presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, the seven-member Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, May 3 that the suit was without merit.