The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the President Akufo-Addo asking former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo to take leave was unlawful.

The court also ruled that the President’s appointment of an Acting Auditor General when there was a substantive Auditor-General was likewise deemed unlawful.

A letter signed by the Executive Director to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo in June 2020 asked the then Auditor General to proceed on leave.

“The attention of the President of the Republic has been drawn to records and documents made available to this Office by the Audit Service, that indicate that your date of birth is 1st June 1960, and that in accordance with article 199 (1) of the Constitution, your date of retirement as Auditor-General was 1st June 2020.”

“Based on this information, the President is of the view that you have formally left office,” the letter from the presidency said.

This development followed the presidency ordering the Auditor General to take a167 days of mandatory leave starting from July 1, 2020.

He was retired on March 3, 2021, when his leave was set to expire.

The Attorney General was sued over these orders by nine civil society organizations.

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Citizen Movement Ghana, the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), and the Parliamentary Network Africa were among them.

They argued that because the President lacks the power to impose such disciplinary measures on autonomous entities, the orders were legitimate.

The Court, however, chose not to make any more restrictions, such as prohibiting Mr Domelevo from proceeding on leave because he has since retired.

Justices Nene Amegatcher, Prof Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Lovelace Johnson, Getrude Torkonoo, Prof Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, and Emmanuel Kulendi heard the case.