NDC organiser case against GNPC boss over retirement age struck out
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by the Chief Justice, has struck out an application against the GNPC boss over his retirement age.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) boss, Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, was dragged to court by the deputy National Youth Organiser of the opposition NDC, Eric Edem Agbana, in October last year.
On Wednesday, when the case was called, counsel for GNPC boss, Kissi Agyabeng told the court they want the case struck out.
“We have before the court an application to strike out the case under rule 46 (3) C.I. 16,” Mr Agyabeng said.
The decision was largely due to the fact that Mr Agbana failed to pursue the case after eight months of filing.
Lawyers for the defendant were of the view that per the rules of court, Mr. Agbana should have filed his statement of case within 14 days of dragging Dr. Sarpong to court.
This, he explained, confirmed that the NDC’s Deputy Youth Organiser “has no intention of pursuing the case.”
Having heard his plea, the Chief Justice, Anin Yeboah, agreed and struck out the case.
Background of the case
The deputy National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Eric Edem Agbana, in a writ, challenged the capacity GNPC boss, Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, to stay in office.
He wanted the Supreme Court to declare that Dr Sarpong’s continuous stay in office breached Article 199(1) and (4) of the 1992 constitution.
Article 199 (1) states that: “A public officer shall, except as otherwise provided in this constitution, retire from the public service on attaining the age of sixty years.”
Article 199 (4) states that: “The president may, subject to such conditions as he thinks fit delegate some of his functions under this article by directions in writing to the police council or to a committee or to a member of the council.”
The reliefs Mr Agbana was seeking is for the court to order the GNPC boss to resign immediately and also cough up all the allowances and benefits he obtained from the corporation from the time he attained 65 years.
Dr Sarpong was appointed as acting Chief Executive Officer of GNPC by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in February 2017.
He took over from Mr Alex Mould, who served as CEO since 2013.
Prior to his GPNC appointment, Dr Sarpong was the Chair of the board of directors of Royal Bank.
He served in a number of executive, non executive and advisory positions in many organisations, including the Ghana Commercial Bank, Merchant Bank and others.
Dr Sarpong is a Chartered Accountant and holds a PhD in Industrial and Business Studies from the University of Warwick.
Dr Sarpong is also an alumnus of the University of Ghana Business School having obtained his MBA and B.Sc (Administration) in Accounting, from the school.