Closure of university temporary – UEW authorities tell students

The University of Education Winneba is appealing to students not to be disheartened by a High court decision ordering the shutdown of the school.

PRO for the University, Steve Van Kamasa told Evans Mensah on Joy FM’s Top Story Tuesday the injunction ordering the closure is temporary and will expire on Friday.

The University is battling a court case brought against it by a former Assemblyman of Donkoryiem, Supi Kofi Kwayera over the continuous stay of the school’s Council.

Related Article: High court shuts down University of Education

The Council’s mandatory four year term expired in 2013, but the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government directed it to act until a substantive one is appointed.

The then Education Minister, Professor Naana Opoku Agyemang in her justification cited the protracted election petition in 2013 and some challenges facing the education sector for the central government’s decision.

“We were all aware of a number of challenges that were going on legally regarding the elections…so the directive came that all councils whose terms were going to expire should hold on,” she told Parliament on June 23, 2016.

Related Article: Former Assemblyman drags UEW to court over ‘expired’ Governing Council

But displeased by the development, the businessman in a suit filed at a Winneba High Court wants all the decisions taken by the Council to be declared null and void.

Mr Kwayera is also seeking the declaration that the extension of the mandate of the Governing Council by the University and Education Ministry was in breach of Section 8 of Act 972.

At a hearing at Winneba, the presiding judge, Justice Ato Graves Mills granted an injunction request by the former Assemblyman for the closure of the school. He also asked for the current Vice Chancellor of the school and other senior members to be restrained from exercising their duties.

The news has been received with mixed feelings especially by students who are expected to graduate in 2017. The injunction affects over 46,000 students in all the four satellite campuses of the university located in Kumasi, Mampong, Winneba and Ajumako.

A would-be graduate who spoke to Joy News on condition of anonymity said he will organise his colleagues to petition the government to intervene for their graduation to be held.

"We are devastated by the news [because] the fact is that we were due for graduation in April and we did everything possible [but] we later heard the case has been sent to court," he said.

"We have realised that the only thing the government understands is the ‘choo boi’ method and we will do that."

But Mr Van Kamasa explained the graduation did not take place as scheduled because government is yet to appoint its four representatives to constitute the new University Council.

"We are waiting for the government to bring us those four names," he said, adding the university has been communicating with the Ministry to submit the names.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | [email protected] | Instagram: @realbrakopowers