[2024]DLSC17725 • May 22, 2024 • Supreme Court •
ELIKPLIM L. AGBEMAVA VS. ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Plaintiff, a Ghanaian citizen and legal practitioner, challenged Section 10(15) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act 2016 (Act 919), alleging it unlawfully exempts certain loans raised by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and other state entities from prior parliamentary approval, contrary to Article 181(3) of the 1992 Constitution. The Plaintiff contended that this exemption undermines constitutional values of probity, accountability, and transparency in government financial transactions.
read moreJUDGMENT DARKO ASARE JSC: My Lords, the Plaintiff says that his motivation for bringing this case is to ensure that the foundational values of our Constitution namely; probity, accountability and transparency are not undermined by Parliament through the provisions of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 2016 (Act 919). He contends that under Act 919, Parliament appears to have waived its constitutional power under article 181 of supervisory control over all loans and international business or economic transactions entered into by the Government of Ghana as explained by the Supreme Court in a long line of cases, including, Attorney-General v Faroe Atlantic Co. Ltd. [2005-2006] SCGLR 271, Attorney General v Balkan Energy [2012] 2 SCGLR 998 . This is how the eminent Date Bah, JSC expressed in flowery language the value of article 181 in the case of Attorney General v Balkan Energy (supra) at page 1033 of the Report:- “The sunlight of Parliamentary scrutiny of major tran.....