KNUST's Vice-Chancellor's application rejected

(The Statesman) -- The Governing Council of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) last Friday unanimously rejected an application by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof J.S.K. Ayim, for a two-year extension of his tenure which ends in August this year.

The Council, under the chairmanship of Prof Emeritus Kufuor, decided to advertise the position when it becomes vacant in August. The decision of the Governing Council has warded off a looming legal tussle, which threatened to rock the university had the Vice-Chancellor’s application been granted.

The mood on campus among both lecturers and students after the meeting on Friday was one of relief and the decision of the Council seemed to have had a general acceptability. It also put to rest the tension and rancour that had been associated with the election of the vice-chancellorship of the KNUST in recent times.

The appointment of Prof Ayim in 1999 was occasioned by a prolonged two-year battle, which left the university front polarized and it took over a year for some bridges to be built to ensure smooth administration of the university.

It would be recalled that the Governing Council of KNUST met about ten days ago to determine whether to advertise the vice-chancellorship position, which becomes vacant in August, or grant an unprecedented two-year extension to the incumbent Prof S.K. Ayim.

The incumbent Vice-Chancellor had sought relief under Article 199 Clause 4 of the 1992 Constitution, which gives provisions for retired public officers to be engaged in the service for a limited period of not more than two years at a time of exigencies and applied for a two-year extension to his tenure.

The Governing Council, upon deliberation, dismissed outright Prof Ayim’s application. The contention was that the KNUST is not short of manpower and no such exigency exists. Meanwhile, The Statesman has learnt that interested parties are working feverishly for the University authorities to advertise the vice-chancellorship position when it becomes vacant.