There should be no autocracy in law school - Witness

Accra, Sept. 6, GNA - Mr. Albert Adare, a Lecturer at the Ghana School of Law (GSL), on Tuesday said autocracy should be removed from the running of institutions to give deeper meaning to Ghana's democratic of state institutions.

He said one of such institutions that needed transparent administration was the GSL, which by its unique position needed to be run on laid down rules and regulations.

Mr. Adare said that was the only means by which autocratic administration of the school could be avoided when he appeared as a petitioner before the five-member committee investigating allegations of corruption as well as abuse of office against Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare, Director of the GSL.

Mr Adare said because the school did not strictly abide by laid down rules and also ignored existing ones, there were no guidelines to ensure that its administration was properly ran.

He alleged that because of personal differences between him and Mr Ansa-Asare his working life became unbearable for because of Mr Ansa-Asare's attitude towards him.

According to Mr Adare, he believed these differences were due to the fact the he openly challenged the appointment of Mr Ansa-Asare as the Director of the GSL, since he believed that the appointment was not rightfully done.

He said Mr Ansa-Asare frustrated him out of a course he was to undertake to facilitate his position as a lecturer of Legislative Drafting at the GSL.

Mr. Adare said Mr Ansa-Asare had directed that a computer given to him by the former GSL Director to facilitate his studies was taken away from him.

He said Mr Ansa-Asare also wrote to him in September 2003 and told him that if he had not completed the course within a period which Mr. Ansa-Asare specified, his appointment would be terminated.

Mr. Adare said as a result of frustrations, he endured at the hands of Mr. Ansa-Asare, he had to abandon the course.

Mr. Adare also said through Mr Ansa-Asare's making, his monthly salary had not been paid from January 2005 to date.

He said this happened immediately after it had been withheld from February 2004 to September 2004 under the instruction of Mr. Ansa Asare. He said, in Mr. Ansa Asare's bid to incriminate him, he (Ansa Asare) even made a report to the police, accusing him of hunting for him at GSL premises with a cutlass.

Mr. Adare said he had rather sent the cutlass to the school to hand it over to a labourer whom he had contracted to do some weeding for him. He said Ansa-Asare also tried to falsely accuse him of leaking out examination questions to students, adding that Mr Ansa-Asare had said he had violated a rule by the GSL, which stated that as a lecturer, one did not have to practice in a court of law which meant his appointment had to be terminated.

He said based on this, he received a letter in December 2004, which terminated his appointment on the orders of Mr Ansa-Asare. He said an injunction was however, placed on the termination of his appointment by the General Legal Council (GCL) through the efforts of his solicitor.

The GSL lecturer, who admitted doing some legal practice alongside his job as a lecturer at the GSL said by the Provisions and Statutes governing the Law School, a lecturer could practice law on a minimal basis so far as his practice did not interfere with his job as a Lecturer..

Mr Adare cited a number of lawyers who lectured at the GSL that, he claimed also indulged in "minimal practice" and added that even Mr Ansa-Asare also indulged in some legal practice. He said some measures had to be put in place at the GSL to prevent what he termed the kind of autocratic rule that it was experiencing under Mr Ansa-Asare.

He said the Staff of the GSL had to have representatives on the General Legal Council (GLC), adding that it was not right for the GSL to have no representation on the GLC. Mr Adare said this representation was also necessary on the Board of Legal Education.

He said there were laid down regulations by the GLC, which spelt out the manner in which school fees were to be paid, adding that if the regulations had been strictly respected, the fees at the GSL could not have been increased as rapidly as it happened during Mr Ansa-Asare's tenure of office.

Mr Adare also requested that a "Promotions Committee" be set up to oversee promotions and said this would prevent a situation where the Director could unjustly withhold a person's deserved promotion. He appealed to the committee to recommend that the GLC go back to its statutes and provisions, especially those bordering on the running of the GSL, since that would save the GSL a lot of trouble in future. Sitting continues on Wednesday.