Accounting Professor and private legal practitioner, lawyer Kwaku Asare aka Kwaku Azar has instructed his lawyers to withdraw his case against the Attorney-General (Writ no. J1/15/2020) on grounds that the issues had become moot.
In the writ filed in July 2020, the lawyer prayed in relief 12 for the Court to grant “An expedited hearing of the motion for injunction and the substantive cause given the important financial watchdog role played by the Auditor-General and the irreparable harm that any delay will cause to the financial systems and the integrity of the Constitution.”
He had also asked the court to restrain the Deputy Auditor-General from acting as the Auditor-General since the country could not have both a substantive and an acting Auditor-General.
According to him, the Court did not grant the injunction, and did not give any directives pursuant to his prayer for an expedited hearing and adjourned sine die.
”When the Court, in a later case on the same day, recognized the Acting Auditor-General, I was alarmed as that essentially meant the Court did not only fail to act on my prayer for expedited hearing but had also taken sides by recognizing the Acting Auditor-General, a position unknown to the Constitution.
Shortly after that hearing, the Court took its two months vacation and here we are in March 2021,” he posited.
Prof. Azar said his writs made it clear that any delays will cause irreparable harm to the financial systems and the integrity of the Constitution.
“The 9-month delay has just done what I feared and even worst.
In the circumstances, there is no value in pursuing the case and it is why I have issued that directive this morning.
The Constitution instructs that I act when I see a violation of the Constitution. That same Constitution too instructs the Court to enforce its terms. Not just enforce its terms but do so timeously.
The Constitution is a mere document. It is not self-enforcing. It is only as good as those who are charged with its enforcement in the triangle defense,” he bemoaned.
He concluded: ”as this saga comes to an end, all those involved will have to examine and live with their conscience.
SALL is the cardinal sin of the 8th Parliament. The Constitution has a voice on representation. But it is left to us to vindicate its terms.”
