A lawsuit has been filed against Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, the Controller and Accountant General of the Republic, by Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for the South Dayi constituency in the Volta Region.
This comes after the Controller and Accountant decided to run in the Eastern Region’s Akim Swedru parliamentary primary for the ruling New Patriotic Party.
Kennedy Osei Nyarko, the area’s sitting MP, and Jerome Kwame Akodo are his two opponents.
However, since word spread that he would be running for the seat, a number of political figures, pundits, and civil servants—including the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG)—have called for him to resign from his role as Controller and Accountant-General.
Because of this, NDC MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor stated in a statement of claim filed with the court that he is essentially asking for an order prohibiting Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem from representing himself as the Controller and Accountant General while he continues to run for the Akim Swedru constituency in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primary.
In the statement, he claimed that Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem had not given up his job as Controller and Accountant General and had formally selected his nomination form to run in the upcoming NPP primaries on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at the Akim Swedru Constituency.
The NDC MP further argues that “a civil servant is entitled to his views in political matters, and if so qualified, may vote at elections however any civil servant who wishes to contest in any political activity has to resign from the service”.
Mr. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor stated that he was forced to file the immediate action and request a total of seven reliefs because he did not follow through on the same.
He began by making the assertion that Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, the defendant, is a civil servant and, as such, is not permitted to run for the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primary while serving as the Controller and Accountant General.
Second, a proclamation stating that a civil servant may only run in the parliamentary primaries of a political party in the event that the civil servant has resigned from his official capacity.
Third, an order of Interlocutory Injunction prohibiting the defendant, while he continues to pursue a candidacy in the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primary scheduled for January 27, 2024, from representing himself as the Controller and Accountant General.
In the event that the defendant continues to run in the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primary on January 27, 2024, he will be prohibited from representing himself as the Controller and Accountant General by an order of perpetual injunction.
Fifth, an order mandating that the defendant step down from his role as Controller and Accountant General in the event that he chooses to run in the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primary on January 27, 2024.
