A fresh flyer asking guests to be seated by 9:30 a.m. today (Friday) for the swearing-in of Prof. John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor as vice-chancellor of the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) is in circulation.
Many observers are surprised at the development because a former student of the university, Rashid Ibrahim, had filed a motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction pursuant to Order 25 of CI 47 against the swearing-in ceremony and the school, reacting to that notice, initially had postponed the event indefinitely.
Some legal practitioners, speaking to Media Without Borders this morning, said the university a motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction was an injunction in itself and disregarding the motion amounted to contempt of court.
One of the lawyers added that those involved in the investiture, “particularly members of the school’s governing council”, risked imprisonment “if they go ahead with that ceremony.”
The reason behind the legal action, as contained in the student’s statement of claim, is that the appointment contravenes established rules and guidelines.
He also added two other staff of the university— Prof. Emmanuel Selase Asamoah and Prof. Samuel Antwi— as defendants for similar reasons.
In addition to challenging the appointments in court, the former student also filed a motion for interlocutory injunction against the swearing-in ceremony. 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.
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 by plaintiff
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 across Ghana 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
