The local chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), at University of Education, Winneba (UEW), has threatened to sue the Governing Council of UEW, over its decision to interdict the school’s Vice Chancellor and four other top officials.
The officials were asked to step aside after it was discovered that some files at some offices under investigation in the school, had gone missing.
Interdiction was unfair
[contextly_sidebar id=”Nx9Qwyti2GaURZ2hythVNV9rVEuF8InB”]Speaking on Eyewitness News however, Secretary of the local chapter of UTAG at UEW, Dr. Ahmed Jinapor said the interdiction was “unfair ”, since the High Court of Winneba had placed an injunction on the Vice Chancellor to stay away from work since July 14.
He also indicated that, the interdiction was flawed, given that Mr. Jinapor was not given a fair hearing.
“The Vice Chancellor has been asked to step aside by a competent court of jurisdiction over this whole issue. The issue of financial malfeasance, misappropriation of funds is before a competent court of jurisdiction and the High Court based on its hearings from both sides of the pendulum has come to the conclusion that we are going to give a verdict on the 28th of November, so why come out with this letter telling him to step aside again on an allegation that he has not even been questioned. He was never given an opportunity to defend himself,” argued Mr. Jinapor.
Mr. Jinapor believes the UEW Council could have resorted to a more suitable approach if it was indeed established that the officials had a hand in the development.
“Since July 14, the Vice Chancellor was asked to step aside and he never went to the office and if he never went to the office how could he have pulled files from the office? And if he did that, will amount to contempt of court? The best way to go about this is to fight him for contempt. Our fear and our hope and our prayer is that, this decision does not lead the Winneba High Court in its decision. If it is anything of that sort, I can tell you for a fact that UTAG is going to resist it. If it means going to court to challenge it, why not?” he said.
“We are very unhappy about this, and we think that Counsel should as a matter of urgency, revisit the decision that has been taken, and they should more or less see their stance in terms of the impasse that is going on in the University. The Council should be the body that anybody can fall on if anyone is being maltreated,” Mr. Jinapor added.
Background
A Winneba High Court in July ordered the Vice Chancellor of UEW, Professor Mawutor Avokeh, to step aside until a case brought against him and the University’s Governing Council is determined.
The order also affected the institution’s Finance Officer.
The order was made in a case brought before the court by Supi Kofi Kwayera who insisted that the Vice Chancellor and the Finance Officer were operating under the institution’s defunct governing council.
The plaintiff held that the University’s Council’s mandate had expired in November 2013, but the Education Ministry failed to constitute a new Governing Council for the university, and rather allowed and permitted the defunct Governing Council which had no mandate whatsoever to continue the functions of a properly constituted Governing Council as if same had been properly constituted.
This, Mr. Kwayera insisted was unlawful, and hence his legal action against the University of Education, Winneba.
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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