K'Poly ordered to refund GH¢57,000 to final year students

Dr. B. E. K. Prah

A five-member Committee of Enquiry, which was set up by the Ashanti Regional Security Council on May 24, this year to investigate circumstances leading to students disturbances which occurred on the campus of the Kumasi Polytechnic, has made damning findings, which indict the old administration of the school, headed by Dr. B. E. K. Prah.

The committee, whose membership consisted of representatives from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Polytechnic Council, Police Service, Audit Service and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, discovered through its investigations, several procedural failures, including refusal to abide by the Public Procurement Law in the award of contracts, unaccounted for fees, and lack of administrative diligence on the part of the former management.

It has subsequently recommended the refund of several thousands of old Ghana cedis to over 3,000 final year students who left the school a few months ago, for failure on the part of the school to honour its part of administrative obligations in the provision of ICT services, after charging the students fees to that effect.

According to the report, a copy of which The Chronicle's intelligence happened to have chanced upon, the Prof. Dontwi-chaired committee, in its findings, faulted the old regime for failing to draw a clear cut ICT policy to direct it in the issues and operations of ICT, and also for failing to act in good time to resolve issues of service delivery.

'Management failed to also act promptly in spite of signs on the wall; the reports/memos from the ICT Committee, rumours and complaints from lecturers and students were also signs indicating a looming problem,' the committee stated.

The committee further identified that the reporting procedure from the Vice Rector to the Rector of the school was more verbal than formal, and that the complaints on ICT issues received by the non-statutory ICT Committee set up by the Vice Rector, was not properly communicated to the Rrector for action to be taken.

It also identified the lack of proper communication between the management and student body, to the extent that management of the school refused to consult the students for discussions on their grievances.

'It is clear that there was no interpersonal relationship between the management and the students; poor human skills exhibited by management did not help the situation,' it noted.

On the contract with the Nigerian-based ICT firm, Socket Works Limited, which generated so much uproar amongst the students, the committee said the lack of due diligence, and that the tendering process, in line with Procurement Law of the country, was not followed.

It stressed, 'There was no document to prove that the company was duly registered with the Registrar General's Department. The background check conducted on the company was inadequate. Consequently, the change of name of the company from Socket Works Limited to S.W Global Limited did not have any supporting document from the Registrar General's Department.'

'The contract signed with Socket Works had no performance agreement level to enable the Polytechnic monitor and assess the company, whilst the clause 'Pay as you use' in the contract, was turned to 'Pay before you use,' which never favoured the school,' the committee further pointed out.

The committee, amongst other things, also found that the educational portal put in place by Socket Works, never worked, while monitoring and evaluation was not structured for the internet bandwidth requirement, and the wireless provision was not functional beyond the computer laboratory.

The enquiry team noted further that there was no clear understanding of ICT by the students and some staff, and therefore the concept of ICT was not properly disseminated to the students, while the 4% retention to support needy students, as indicated in the contract with Socket Works, was still lodged in the accounts of the Polytechnic, unattended to.

The report indicated that the demand for a refund by the students at the time was a legitimate one, and that steps should have been taken by the management at the early stages, stressing, 'the abrogation of the contract with the Nigerian firm came a shade too late.'

It however, approved the new contract entered into between the Polytechnic and XIT and Vodafone for the provision of internet facilities for the school.

The committee subsequently recommended the refund of GH¢19 (being fees charged between October 2009 to February 2010) to each final year student, who will not benefit from the service to be provided by the new firm.

Meanwhile, The Chronicle has laid hands on a memorandum headlined 'Report of Committee of Enquiry on Student Disturbances at the Polytechnic,' signed by the registrar/secretary to the Council, R.Korankye-Mensah, and copied to the Acting Rector, Finance Officer and Assistant Registrar (Academic), instructing them to take the necessary steps to ensure te immediate refund of the fees to the final year students.

The refund, according to the committee, could come either in cash or kind deducted from the congregation fees.

It would be recalled that somewhere in May this year, final year students of the Kumasi Polytechnic embarked on a protest, destroying properties and burning tyres during the period of examination.

The aggrieved students refused to sit for examinations until their ICT fees were refunded to them.

The disturbance led to the eventual closure of the school, after which the Regional Security Council, headed by the Regional Minister, Mr.Kofi Opoku Manu, instituted the committee to conduct investigations into the incident.