Kwame Asuah Takyi and Veronica Arddey at the court yesterday
An Accra high court has ordered the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to reinstate a senior staff of the Service interdicted over the alleged issuance of fraudulent residence permits to some 22 Chinese nationals.
The court, presided over by Justice Henry Kwofie, an Appeals Court judge sitting with additional responsibility as a high court judge, stated that the court had set aside the interdiction of Kwame Asuah Takyi, an Assistant Director of Immigration.
He stated that the interdiction of Mr Takyi, who is also the Deputy Director, Legal and Immigration, was without basis.
Justice Kwofie indicated that the plaintiff who had sued alongside Veronica Arddey, a Deputy Director of Finance, must be recalled to occupy his position with his accompanying rights, entitlements, allowances and privileges from the time of the interdiction till date.
The court held that a supposed Daniel Taabazuing Committee set up to investigate the case was a sham, adding that the plaintiff must be reinstated without loss of seniority.
Justice Kwofie however, did not grant Takyi’s relief for general damages.
On the general damages, the court stated that it agreed with the plaintiffs that their reputation had been soiled in respect of the wide publication of their interdiction, but could not grant the last relief.
Touching on the reliefs sought by Veronica, the judge stated that he would enter judgement in her favour, even when she had completed her service at the GIS.
The court awarded GH¢3,000 cost in favour of each of the plaintiffs.
The trial saw among others, Dr. Peter Wiredu, a former Director of GIS, testifying in the case.
Per a letter authored by one Dr. Adelaide Kastner on October 25, 2013, Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi was interdicted over his alleged involvement in the issuance of residence permits to the Chinese without due regard to the requirements and institutional procedural practices in relation to such permits.
The letter, which was written in the name of the president, was not copied the Minister of the Interior, GIS Board, Director of Immigration or Victoria Ninette Baaba Asare, the supposed replacement to Takyi.
It said, “His Excellency the president has directed your immediate interdiction from duty.”
As a result, the plaintiffs proceeded to court, describing their interdiction as “constructive dismissal.”
Mr Takyi, who was also acting as a deputy director, Legal and Immigration, was seeking a declaration that his interdiction and the events that followed amounted to constructive dismissal and was accordingly wrongful, null and void and of no legal effect.
Aside the request for general damages for wrongful dismissal, the plaintiff, in his writ, argued that the interdiction was in contravention of the 1992 Constitution.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
