ECOWAS Court Overturns Unfair Dismissals, Orders Entitlements

ECOWAS Court Nullifies Unjust Dismissals, Orders Payment of Benefits

ECOWAS court orders the payment of entitlements and nullifies the dismissal of staff...

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (GIABA), a specialized ECOWAS agency, dismissed Mr. Momodu Cham a few years ago as a procurement officer. The ECOWAS Court of Justice declared that the dismissal was invalid because it violated Article 69 of the ECOWAS staff regulations.

Following his dismissal, the applicant—a community member who lives in Banjul, Gambia—filed a lawsuit contesting the decision. At trial, he had argued that he was suspended on July 11, 2019, as a result of a forensic audit report from Ernst & Young UK that linked him to irregularities concerning GIABA's procurement of IT equipment.

Furthermore, he was summarily dismissed on January 26, 2021, and in defiance of the ECOWAS Staff Regulations, his wages and benefits were withheld. Then, he begged the court to give him a number of reliefs, such as an immediate payment of his salary arrears and other benefits beginning in January 2021, and a declaration that his dismissal was arbitrary, null, and unlawful.

Justice Dupe Atoki rendered a ruling in a lawsuit in which the applicant had also joined the ECOWAS Commission and its President as first and second respondents, respectively. He concluded that the Commission's decision to stop Cham's salary before the appeals process was completed was arbitrary, illegal, void, and in violation of Article 73(b) of the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.

The court essentially ordered the defendants to compensate Mr. Cham for his wrongful termination by paying him his wage arrears and other rights from January 2021 to June 2021 as well as his salaries and emoluments from July to December 2021.

In the decision, Justice Atoki stated: “Requesting an on-the-spot response to charges without prior notice or an opportunity to prepare a defense violates procedural safeguards outlined in the ECOWAS Staff Regulations. The regulations are designed to ensure an Applicant's rights are fully maintained until the Council's final decision. Consequently, the summary dismissal of the applicant by the 2nd respondent breached Article 69 of the regulation.

“Therefore, the cessation of the Applicant's salary and other emoluments after invoking the right of appeal is a violation of Article 73(b) of the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.”

However, the applicant's reinstatement and necessary injunctions against the Commission were not ordered by the court.