A bailiff is expected to serve a notice on authorities at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) anytime soon to appear before a high court in Accra with answers for contempt of court.
The court had served a motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction on the university against the swearing-in of Prof. John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor as the vice-chancellor of the school, but the university’s authorities still held the ceremony on Friday (today).
That motion was filed by a former student of the school, Rashid Ibrahim, who in his statement of claim says Prof. Mawutor’s appointment contravenes established rules and guidelines.
He said the university would be emboldened to perpetuate an illegality and waste the school’s resources on that ceremony if the court did not restrain it.
The plaintiff’s counsel, Abdul-Aziz Gomda, told Media Without Borders moments after the controversial swearing-in ceremony ended today that steps were being taken to cite those responsible for the event for contempt.
“The school’s action indicates only one thing— that they don’t respect the rule of law. If they respect the rule of law, and having been given notice of the motion for injunction, all they needed to do was to hold their guns and wait for the court to determine the merits of the case and if the court finds in their favour, so be it, and if the court finds in the plaintiff’s favour, so be it.
“But until the court makes that determination and you have notice of the pending action, you have no business in going ahead with the investiture when the very essence of the motion is to question the legality of the investiture. And it is a principle of law that once you have a notice of a pending action, you should desist from taking any further action that will interfere with the outcome of the case in court or will undermine the administration of justice,” said the lawyer.
He added: “We are drawing the court’s attention to their flagrant and blatant disregard of the rules of court by calling on the court to commit those responsible for today’s activity for contempt. There must be consequences to send a very powerful notice that you cannot undermine the administration of justice and the rule of law.”
Details on the court case
The university’s management announced on May 6, 2024, the appointment of John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor as its vice chancellor effective January 1, 2025.
It also appointed Prof. Emmanuel Selase Asamoah as pro-vice-chancellor for academic and student affairs and Prof. Samuel Antwi as pro-vice-chancellor for research innovation and knowledge transfer.
The plaintiff (the ex-student) tells the court in his statement of claim that the university committed some “infractions and illegalities” through its governing council prior to Mawutor’s appointment.
He says the infractions and illegalities “undermine the established rules and guidelines for the appointment and promotion of academic staff as contained in the revised version of the criteria for appointments and promotions of” senior academic staff.
The revised version, according to Ibrahim, requires the university to promote a senior lecturer to the rank of an associate professor only if the applicant has a minimum of 7 articles published in reputable journals among other requirements.
He avers that Prof. Mawutor did not meet the standard required to be promoted to the rank of an associate professor yet the defendant (the university) disregarded the guidelines by promoting him to that rank.
“Having been unlawfully elevated to the rank of associate professor, the validity of the subsequent appointment of John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor as vice chancellor of the respondent is now being questioned as per the writ of summons and statement of claim issued by the applicant in this instant suit, inviting this honourable [court] to make a determination to that effect,” the plaintiff says in paragraph 9 of his statement of claim.
In paragraph 10 of his statement of claim, the former student says the university also breached the rules by appointing Prof. Asamoah as pro-vice-chancellor for academic and student affairs and Prof. Antwi as pro-vice-chancellor for research innovation and knowledge transfer “without any legal basis.”
He says the appointments breach the Act of Parliament that established UPSA as a public university.
Reliefs sought in the substantive case
The ex-student listed nine reliefs in addition to his request for an interlocutory injunction to prevent the investiture from taking place.
While praying that the sought interlocutory injunction, if granted, remains in force until the final determination of the substantive suit, he is also seeking a declaration that Prof. Mawutor’s promotion to the rank of associate professor by the university was defective, unlawful and of no effect.
He wants a declaration that Prof. Mawutor’s appointment as vice chancellor, having been “defectively promoted” to the rank of associate professor, was invalid and of no effect as he never met the requirement of professorship needed to be a vice chancellor.
The former student is praying that the court declares that the creation of the office of pro vice-chancellor for research innovation and knowledge transfer and the office of pro vice-chancellor for academic and student affairs is beyond their legal power and thereby null and void. He is further asking for an order setting aside Mawutor’s appointment as the university’s vice chancellor.
He is requesting an order setting aside the appointments of Prof. Asamoah as pro-vice-chancellor for academic and student affairs and Prof. Antwi as pro-vice-chancellor for research innovation and knowledge transfer. He is looking for an order directed to the university to comply with provisions of the revised version of “the criteria for appointments and promotions” of senior academic staff.
The alumnus also wants an order restraining the school from appointing any individual who does not meet the status of professorship as the vice chancellor, an order directed to the university to comply with the Act of Parliament establishing the school in appointing a pro-vice-chancellor and any other reliefs or remedies the court may deem fit.
Meanwhile, the high court has scheduled Tuesday, 18 February 2025, for a hearing on the interlocutory injunction motion.
The lawsuit filed against UPSA is one of the several unusual happenings seen in recent times at public universities around the country under the watch of the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana
