The Supreme Court has adjourned to December 17, 2025, to make a ruling on whether a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Ghana and the United States of America to receive some West African Nationals should be made public or not.
This was after the Court had been presented with a copy of the said document by the Attorney-General on Wednesday, November 26.
When the case was called, Justice Gabriel Pwamang, the presiding judge, indicated that the previous directive was for the parties to file their written submissions for a ruling on the discovery.
However, he said there has been an intervention from the Attorney-General in a notice filed on November 18.
With this premise in mind, the Court retired and invited the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, to chambers, where the said document was shown to the judges only.
Upon resumption, the Court said, having seen the document referred to by the Attorney-General and having heard the Deputy AG, the Court will adjourn to December 17, 2025, for their ruling.
The panel, which also includes Justices Ernest Gaewu, Richard Adjei-Frimpong, Senyo Dzamefe, and Hafisata Amaleboba, had said it will deliver its ruling on November 26, 2025.
But, the disclosure made by the Attorney General, which the judges had the opportunity to peruse, deemed it appropriate to adjourn the ruling on the matter.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reports that lawyers of the Democracy Hub, led by Oliver Barker-Vormawor, were not part of those who retired to chambers.
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Background
Civil society organisation, Democracy Hub, had dragged the Government of Ghana to the Supreme Court over what it described as an unconstitutional and secret (MOU) with the United States of America on the deportation of West African nationals.
The group, through its lawyers Merton & Everett LLP, argued that the agreement violates the 1992 Constitution and Ghana’s obligations under international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, and the OAU Refugee Convention.
Filed on October 13, 2025, the suit seeks 28 reliefs, including a declaration that the MOU is unconstitutional and an order restraining government from implementing it.
The group maintains that the agreement required parliamentary ratification under Article 75(2) but was secretly concluded without it, making it null and void.
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Democracy Hub contends that, under the arrangement, 42 individuals have already been involuntarily repatriated into Ghana from the United States and detained under armed military custody at the Bundase Military Training Camp.
The detainees were allegedly held for weeks without charge, access to lawyers, or basic facilities. The group insists that detaining civilians and asylum seekers in a military facility is a gross violation of Articles 14, 15, and 19 of the Constitution, which guarantee liberty, human dignity, and fair trial rights.
It described the treatment of the deportees as “inhumane and degrading.”
Democracy Hub further argues that the MOU makes Ghana complicit in ‘chain refoulement’, a process where refugees are indirectly returned to danger through a third country, contrary to peremptory norms of international law known as jus cogens.
The organization maintains that even if Parliament were to ratify the deal, it would still be unconstitutional, as the Constitution does not allow Ghana to enter into agreements that violate fundamental human rights or international law.
“The Constitution is not a suicide pact. No government has the authority to secretly contract Ghana out of its human rights obligations,” the group said in its statement.
Democracy Hub says the legal action is aimed at protecting not only the individuals affected but also Ghana’s democratic integrity, constitutional supremacy, and reputation as a state governed by the rule of law.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
