By Joyce Danso
Accra, November 5, GNA- An Accra High Court has dismissed an application against the appointment of the Commissioner of Police (COP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, as Deputy Inspector General of Police (IGP).

This came after a private citizen went to court alleging that under Ghanaian law, there was no appointment as Deputy IGP in charge of operations.

Emmanuel Félix Mantey, a private citizen and lecturer, who initiated the action, maintained that the President and the Police Council perpetuated the illegality in that appointment.

Mantey, in an ex parte application, sued the Attorney General, the Police Board and COP Christina Tetteh Yohuno, but lawyers for the Police Board and COP Yohuno raised a preliminary objection saying that the applicant’s action was commenced in the wrong forum and in contravention of article 2(1) and 130 (1) of the 1992 Constitution.

Counsel for the two defendants argued that the plaintiff wrongly invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court.

The court was therefore asked to resolve questions about whether the court’s jurisdiction had been properly invoked before considering the application.

The court presided over by Justice Richard Apietu, after a preliminary objection of law, ruled that the President acted in accordance with his administrative functions and not his judicial ones.

“The President was performing his administrative function and not exercising adjudicatory powers when he appointed COP Yohuno (the third respondent) as Deputy IGP, therefore, Article 141 of the 1992 Constitution and Article 16 of Law 459 are not the appropriate legal provisions to be invoked against him.”

According to the court, the appropriate provisions that the plaintiff should have relied on in order to properly invoke the jurisdiction of the court in this matter were Article 23.
The court held that the plaintiff lacked authority to intervene in such appointment and that he did not properly invoke the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court, and therefore dismissed the matter.

In July 2024, President Akufo Addo, acting on the advice of the Police Council, appointed COP Yohuno as Deputy IGP in charge of Operations.
GAN