The Supreme Court has thrown out the suit filed by Kwame Baffoe, the New Patriotic Party’s(NPP) Bono Regional Chairman against some parliamentarians who allegedly received double salaries in the erstwhile government.
The said parliamentarians are Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; Alhassan Azong, Fifi Fiave Kwetey, Eric Opoku, Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, Mark Owen Woyongo, Comfort Doyoe, Cudjoe Ghansah and Aquinas Tawiah Quansah.
Mr Baffoe also known as Abronye DC asserted that the actions of the Members of Parliament(MPs) who took double salaries while serving as MPs and ministers are unconstitutional.
He, therefore, prayed the Apex court to declare the double payment as a violation of the laws of the country and to compel the MPs to refund the salaries.
The Attorney General’s Department however raised objections to the case on Wednesday arguing that the specific constitutional provisions cited did not require any interpretation.
The Attorney General, therefore, urged the Court to strike out the application, as it did not adequately invoke the original jurisdiction of the land’s highest court.
The Supreme Court upheld the arguments describing the case as frivolous.
His Lordship Nene Amegatcher, reading the ruling of the court said “After carefully reviewing and hearing counsel in open court, we agree that our jurisdiction has not been properly invoked. The articles referred to require no interpretation.”
“The plaintiffs’ remedy lies in another forum. Due to the frivolous nature of this case, we were minded to award costs personally but have opted out of policy considerations not to do so”, Justice Amegatcher added.
Other members of the Court were Justices Nii Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Amadu Tanko, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, and Yonny Kulendi.
Reacting to the court’s ruling, Mr. Baffoe said he is not perturbed.
“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 said.