SAMUEL OSEI BOATENG vs. NATIONAL MEDIA COMMISSION AND BERIFI AFARI APENTENG

The plaintiff, Samuel Osei Boateng, filed a writ invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court seeking enforcement of constitutional provisions. He challenged the appointment of the 2nd defendant, a member of the National Media Commission (NMC), as Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) without affording other qualified Ghanaians the opportunity to apply for the position. The plaintiff contended this contravened Articles 168, 23, and 296 of the 1992 Constitution. The defendants filed a preliminary objection challenging the Supreme Court's jurisdiction, arguing the matter involved enforcement of fundamental human rights under Article 23, which falls under the High Court's jurisdiction, and that the constitutional provisions invoked were clear and unambiguous, thus not raising issues for interpretation or enforcement by the Supreme Court.

ATUGUBA, J.S.C: I have had the advantage of reading the characteristic masterly opinion of my brother Dr. Date-Bah J.S.C. I agree with much of it and its conclusion. However, I perpetually disagree, with global respect to him, in so far as he holds that this court’s enforcement jurisdiction does not arise unless an issue of interpretation arises. The original jurisdiction of this court stems from articles 2 and 130 of the Constitution. One of its most essential components is the enforcement of the Constitution as an item of jurisdiction in its own right and though it may arise jointly with an issue of interpretation its existence and invocation cannot be inextricably linked to the incidence of an interpretative issue, as a sine qua non prerequisite. It is common knowledge that the original jurisdiction of this court has been conferred in almost identical language in the 1969 and 1979 past Constitutions of Ghana and has been consistently interpreted in the same manner by the Sup.....