The Supreme Court of Ghana has granted leave for a coalition of civil society organisations to join an ongoing constitutional case challenging the prosecutorial powers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The court ruled that the organisations could assist in reaching a “lasting” determination on the constitutional issues before it.
The seven-member panel was presided over by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and included Justices Avril Lovelace-Johnson, Gabriel Scott Pwamang, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, Ernest Yao Gaewu, Gbiel Simon Suurbaareh, and Senyo Dzamefe.
The application was admitted after submissions by lawyer Kizito Beyuo on behalf of the applicant organisations.
The civil society groups seeking to join the suit include Transparency International, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, STAR-Ghana Foundation, PenPlusBytes, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, IMANI Africa, One Ghana Movement and Africa Education Watch, among other governance-focused groups.
The substantive suit was filed by private citizen Noah Adamptey against the Attorney-General, questioning the constitutionality of the OSP’s authority to independently initiate criminal prosecutions without prior approval from the Attorney-General.
At the hearing, Deputy Attorney-General Justice Srem-Sai indicated that the state did not oppose the motion for joinder.
“We are not opposed to the motion. We have a letter from the plaintiff, but we can proceed,” he told the court.
Arguing the motion, Mr Beyuo said the case involved important constitutional interpretation issues with significant public interest implications. He added that the applicant organisations possessed expertise and institutional knowledge relevant to the matter before the court.
According to counsel, several of the organisations were instrumental in advocacy efforts that led to the establishment of the OSP and had consistently engaged the government on anti-corruption reforms and accountability.
He further argued that Article 2 actions were unique constitutional proceedings that allowed citizens to invoke the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in matters of public interest.
“This action is different,” he stated, adding that the applicants could assist the court in resolving the constitutional questions involved.
Delivering the ruling, Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie said the organisations had established sufficient grounds to participate in the proceedings.
“The applicants have made a case for the court to admit them to assist the court to arrive at a decision that would be lasting,” he said.
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