OccupyGhana to join suit challenging powers of Auditor-General

OccupyGhana has been given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court to file an amicus brief on the suit challenging the independence and powers of the Auditor-General.

Private legal practitioner, Isaac Wilberforce Mensah, argued at the apex court on the extent to which the Auditor-General and the Audit Service Board can function.

According to him, the appointment of officers and other employees of the Audit Service “is the sole exclusive and exclusive of the Audit Service Board” which needs no interference from the Auditor General.

He is therefore praying the Supreme Court to declare as wrongful the Auditor-General’s “deliberate absence from Board meetings without justifiable excuse”, which absence, he argues, “does not invalidate decisions taken at such Board meetings”.

On Tuesday October 20, 2020, OccupyGhana notified the Supreme Court of its motion seeking leave to file Amicus curiae on the matter of which the court granted the pressure group one week to file its brief.

Legal representatives of the Audit Service Board also told the court of their readiness to respond to the brief when it is filed.

Contentious Legal Representation

Tuesday’s proceedings saw concerns been raised on the legal representation for the Auditor-General and the Audit Service Board

At the last adjourned date, the Attorney General announced representation for all the defendants in the matter, including the Auditor-General and the Audit Service Board.

This was notwithstanding that the Audit Service Board had announced a lawyer on the record.

Though the Court had charged the parties in the matter to resolve the issue, they failed to do so as the contention resurfaced in Court today.