I Did Nothing Wrong – Sacked UEW UTAG President

I Did Nothing Wrong – Sacked UEW UTAG President

Dr. Frimpong Kaakyire Duku, the local President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has expressed surprise over his dismissal by authorities of the University of Education, Winneba.

Dr. Duku and Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh, Principal of the College of Languages Education were relieved of their duties for various offenses committed. Click to read.

Reports of his dismissal created unrest among students in the school leading to a demonstration, Monday.

Speaking to this in an interview on Citi Eyewitness news, Monday, Dr Duku confirmed receipt of the dismissal letter, adding “somewhere around last year, I had the news that, because I have taken the university to court, I should appear before a committee and that was unsettling to me because the university was built on Acts. And if you check the Acts, it states clearly that a university shall be a corporate body with a perpetual succession of a common use and may be sued. So if I am in the university and I believe something going on is wrong and I go to court for interpretation, how did this become an offense warranting a dismissal”.

According to him, even if he had committed an offense, the first thing to do was to issue ‘a warning’.

“Going to court and rectifying an anomaly is a community service and I didn’t go to court using any of my lecture hours; I did all that I needed to do as a lecturer . . . if even it is something I have done against the institution, I should be given a warning and not a dismissal,” he indicated.

Meanwhile, part of the dismissal letter addressed to Dr Duku read:

“The Disciplinary Board set up at the instance of the Vice-Chancellor to further investigate your conduct in respect of court action you initiated together with six other staff who were asked to step aside established the following:

-You did not exhaust the internal structures of the University for settling dispute before proceeding to court.

-You used the institutional time to go to court without seeking official permission.

-Without any cause, you initiated legal action against the University – your employer.

The Chairman of Governing Council, the Ag. Vice-Chancellor/Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar with the intention to make the University and the Governing Council unpopular in the eyes of the University Community as well as the General Public.

-Your behaviour and actions constitute misconduct and insubordination which have brought the name of the University into disrepute. You have thus, contravened Schedule G2 (b) and (d) of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) Disciplinary Rules. You, therefore, became subject to discipline under Statute 36 of the UEW Statutes.

-Your actions and attitudes amounted to grave misconduct.

-Based on the findings of the Investigation Committee and the Disciplinary Board at the instance of the Vice–Chancellor, your behaviour contravened Schedule G 2(b) and (d) of the UEW Disciplinary Rules. You were, therefore, subject to discipline under Statutes 36 of the UEW Statutes.

-After discussing the report of the Disciplinary Board at its meeting held on 7th March 2019, and in accordance with Statute 36 of the VFW Statutes, the Governing Council summarily dismissed you from the service of the University with immediate effect.