Mr P.C. Appiah-Ofori's protracted battle to get the retirement age of the Auditor-General raised from 60 to 70 years has hit a dead end at the Supreme Court. In a ruling yesterday on an appeal for review filed by the Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, the Supreme Court re-affirmed its earlier resolution that the retirement age of the Auditor-General should be 60 and not 70 years. The court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, took the stance in a unanimous decision to dismiss the application by Mr Appiah-Ofori for a review of its earlier decision. Immediately after the ruling, which marked the end of his judicial options, Mr Appiah-Ofori indicated to the media that he would not relent but take his case to the Constitutional Review Commission. "I won't rest. I will go to the Constitutional Review Commission to amend the retirement age of the Auditor-General to 70 years," he told journalists. He insisted that Article 70 of the Constitution pegged the conditions of service of the Auditor-General with those of an Appeal Court judge and, therefore, wondered why an Appeal Court judge would retire at 70 while the Auditor-General should retire at 60. In its earlier ruling on the case, the court, by a six to three majority, had said the retirement age of the Auditor-General should not be fixed at 70, as requested by the MP. Reading the judgement on behalf of the 11-member review team, Mrs Justice Wood said the applicant had not demonstrated any exceptional circumstance that pointed to a miscarriage of justice in the earlier decision. She said counsel for the applicant, Mr Frank Boakye Agyen, only rehashed arguments advanced earlier, adding, "In the circumstance, we cannot grant this application." In his submission to the court, Mr Agyen had said he stood by his earlier arguments that the retirement age of the Auditor-General should be put at 70 years. He said the Supreme Court had the power to give a purposive interpretation of the law for the understanding of the public. Other members of the court were Mr Justice W.A. Attugubah, Mr Justice S.A. Brobbey, Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Ms Justice Rose Owusu and Mr Justice Jones Dotse. The rest were Mr Justice Anin Yeboah. Mr Justice P. Baffoe-Bonney, Mr Justice B. T. Aryeetey, Mr Justice N. S. Gbadegbe and Mrs Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo. Source: Daily Graphic