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The Supreme Court has clarified that because the Accra High Court absolved Zoomlion Ghana Limited of any wrongdoing in a GH¢184-million fumigation contract, the Auditor-General has no constitutional power to surcharge the waste management company.
The apex court held that the decision of the Accra High Court had not been appealed by the Auditor-General, and that it meant the power of the Auditor-General to surcharge private entities accused of wrongdoing in accessing public funds as stipulated in Article 187 (7) (b) (iii) of the 1992 Constitution could not apply to Zoomlion.
“The appellant (Zoomlion) having been exonerated by a court of competent jurisdiction of fraud and having been found not guilty of any wrongdoing in the course of the transaction cannot be said to be amenable to the respondent’s (Auditor-General) constitutional power under sub clause b(iii) of Article 187,” the court held.