Ghana Armed Forces escapes default judgement
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) yesterday escaped a default judgement in the case in which 225 retired soldiers sued the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) over what they described as the underpayment of their gratuities, contrary to what the government approved.
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The High Court, however, awarded a GH¢1,000 cost against the GAF for delaying to file its statement of defence.
The court ,presided by Justice Kwame Ackaah Boafo, was scheduled to deliver a default judgement in the case but a last- minute filing of statement of defence by the Attorney-General’s (A-Gs) Department changed the court’s mind, and rather compelled it to award cost and adjourned the case indefinitely.
The 225 retired soldiers sued the CDS over what they described as under-payment of their gratuities, contrary to what the government approved.
The ex-servicemen, who were recruited between 1988 and 1989, had served the country well over 25 years before they commenced their terminal leave in December 2014.
Joined to the action is the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice.
Claims
They are seeking a declaration that deductions made by the CDS on their end-of-service benefits were unlawful.
They also want an order to be directed at the CDS and the A-G to cause to be paid the deductions made on their entitlements as approved by the government.
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The plaintiffs further want the court to compel the CDS to pay interest on the amounts deducted from their entitlements, as well as other costs, including legal fees.
“Unless compelled by an order of the court, the defendants will not pay our gratuities as approved by the government,” they averred.
GAF responds
But GAF in its statement of defence maintained that the ex-soldiers were not entitled to their reliefs as no unlawful or wrongful deductions had been effected on their entitlements to even warrant interest.
Concerning the order that retired soldiers should vacate their rooms at their various barracks, the GAF said any untold hardship the ex-soldiers claimed they were experiencing was self-inflicted since they had received what they were due in addition to their transport to relocate.
Statement of claim
In a statement of claim, the plaintiffs said they rose through the various ranks in the GAF and after having served for some years they commenced their terminal leave in December 2014.
It said it was a condition precedent to the plaintiffs’ leave that they be paid terminal benefits by the government and the A-G subsequently presented a proposal to the government for the payment of their terminal benefits.
It averred that the government, through the Ministry of Finance, approved the payment of GH¢142,071,974 as gratuities to 1,340 people, including the plaintiffs.
It said by the approved figures from the government, payment was to be made to the plaintiffs according to their ranks as follows: Master Warrant Officer (MWO), GH¢126,416; Senior Warrant Officer (SWO), GH¢116, 073; Warrant Officer I (WOI), GH¢107,399; Warrant Officer II (WOII), GH¢100,914; Staff Sergeant, GH¢90,008, and Sergeant, GH¢86,141.
Paid less than approved
In addition to their entitlements, the statement said the government also approved the payment of a sum of GH¢2,103 to each person to cover transportation expenses to his hometown.
“Plaintiffs averred that the payment of the entitlements was made in two instalments, with the first instalment being described by the CDS as being 80 per cent of the total entitlement and the second being the remaining 20 per cent of the entitlement payable upon the plaintiffs leaving their various barracks.
“It is the plaintiffs’ case that contrary to the amount approved by the government to be paid to them, they received monies less than what the government had approved,” it said.
Giving a breakdown of the 80 per cent of the total gratuity paid each person according to their rank and against what was payable to them, it averred that an SWO was paid GH¢65,000, instead of GH¢92,859; a WOI GH¢60,000, instead of GH¢85,919; a WOII GH¢55,000, instead of GH¢80,731; a Staff Sergeant GH¢50,000, instead of GH¢72,007, and a Sergeant GH¢45,000, instead of GH¢68,913.
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The statement said the plaintiffs had sought explanations from the CDS on why monies paid to them were at variance with what the government had authorised to be paid to them.
“But the explanations given by the A-G were unsatisfactory,” it stated.
Aggrieved by the deductions, the plaintiffs, it said, wrote to the A-G on August 24, 2015 to declare their intention to commence an instant suit but “we have to date not received any response to our demand”.