High Court annuls UEW Pro Vice-Chancellor election

The Winneba High Court has annulled the election of Professor Andy Ofori-Birikorang as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW).

Prof. Ofori-Birikorang, who was the then Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication was elected on November 21, 2019 as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the UEW.

The university organised the election after the Winneba High Court on November 18, 2019, dismissed a suit filed by Dr Frimpong Kaakyire Duku, a senior lecturer and former President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) UEW Chapter who challenged the matter in court.

High Court’s decision

The court presided over by Justice Aboagye Tandoh in its ruling today?? ruled that the Vice-Chancellor, Rev Fr Professor Anthony Afful-Broni did not have the right per the statutes of the university to nominate only three preferred individuals to contest in the election, thereby restricting it to a chosen few.

Again, the court quashed the November 2019 election which gave the green light for the election of Prof. Ofori-Birikorang as the Pro VC of the UEW as the earlier election had been declared null and void.

The court further ordered the management of the UEW to re-run the election to elect a new pro-vice-chancellor of the university.

Supreme Court ruling

Dr Duku through his counsel, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, invoked the supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court by filing a certiorari application for the apex court to quash the earlier ruling of the Winneba High Court.

The five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, upheld Dr Duku’s application and subsequently quashed the decision of the High Court.

The court further ordered the case to be reheard by the Winneba High Court for determination. Members of the Supreme Court were Justices Dotse, Yaw Appau, Gabriel Pwamang, Agnes Dordzie and Mariama Owusu. 

On June 10, 2019, Rev. Fr Prof Afful-Broni nominated Professor Yaw Ameyaw, Director, Quality Assurance Directorate, Prof Dominic K. Danso Mensah, Director, Institute for Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development (ITECPD) and Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang, Dean, Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication to be voted on by convocation for one of them to be elected as the Pro VC.

Dr Duku on June 13, 2019 filed a certiorari application for the High Court to quash the decision of the VC to nominate candidates for the elections.

He also filed an interlocutory injunction on the election pending the final determination and further argued in his suit that the move by the VC was a violation of the university’s statutes and the law establishing the university.

He contended that the decision by the VC was illegal and discriminatory as it denied many others, including him, the opportunity for the pro-vice- chancellor position and as a result, the university subsequently suspended the election until further notice.

High Court’s earlier ruling

The Winneba High Court presided over by Justice Janapare A. Bartels on November 18, 2019, dismissed Dr Duku’s suit without going into the merits on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to determine the matter.

It was the view of the High Court that the premise under which Dr Duku filed the suit was wrong and, therefore, it had no jurisdiction to quash the decision of the vice-chancellor.

It was that ruling by the High Court that has been subsequently quashed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court effectively held that the High Court had jurisdiction to determine the matter so the suit must be heard on its merit for determination.