TAMALE POLY ORDERED TO PAY DISMISSED LECTURERS (PAGE 53)

THE Tamale High Court has declared that the committee that recommended the dismissal of the five lecturers of the Tamale Polytechnic for their alleged involvement in the sexual harassment of female students was not properly constituted.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Lawrence Mensah, has, therefore, ordered the polytechnic to pay all the accumulated salaries of the victims.
The dismissed lecturers are also to be paid 15 months’ salary each for damages and GH¢1000 each as costs.
The court, however, refused to recommend the reinstatement of the lecturers because as the judge put it, “the atmosphere in the school is too poisonous for you”.
According to the court, the four-member governing council subcommittee, chaired by Mr John Agyekwena, was not in conformity with the rules and regulations of the school and that the procedures adopted by the committee were also wrong, adding that there was no cross-examination of the accused persons.
Following a newspaper report of an alleged sexual harassment of some female students of the polytechnic in 2007, the governing council of the polytechnic set up a four-member subcommittee to investigate the matter.
And upon the recommendations of the committee, dismissal letters were issued to the affected lecturers.
The first letter, written by the governing council and signed by the Rector of the polytechnic, Alhaji Dr Yakubu Seidu Peligah, on behalf of the acting council chairman and dated September 17, 2007, stated that “your appointment with the polytechnic has been terminated; the termination takes effect from October 31, 2007”.
A second letter signed by the registrar of the institution later explained that their appointment had simply been terminated based on the contractual agreement the polytechnic had with her employees in reference with Article 4.5.3 of the conditions of service for senior members and staff of the school.
However, the court, in its ruling, explained that Article 191 of the 1992 Constitution indicated that a public servant could not be removed or dismissed without a just cause and that this superseded Article 4.5.3 of the conditions of service of the polytechnic.
It further recommended among other proposals, the setting up of a high-powered body to investigate the daily administration of the school.
As a result of the dismissals, the Tamale branch of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) embarked on a strike in solidarity with their colleagues in October, 2007.
They described the recommendations and actions by the polytechnic as unfortunate, pointing out that the constitution of the subcommittee, including its proceedings, cast doubts over its legitimacy and credibility.
The affected lecturers whose appointments were terminated are Messrs Abdulai Abdul-Mumin of the Department of Statistics, Science and Mathematics, Adam Bawa Yussif of the Department of Languages and Liberal Studies and Mikhail Abdul-Aziz of the Accountancy Department.
The rest are Shiraz Wumbei of the Department of Accountancy and Adams Issahaku of the Department of Secretaryship and Management Studies.