T'Poly management cited for contempt

Sekondi, July 17, GNA - Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, Chairman of the Takoradi Polytechnic Council and four management staff of the school have been cited for contempt of court at a Sekondi High Court on Monday. The other defendants are Dr Samuel Obeng Apori, Principal of the School, Mr. Anthony Bassaw, Vice Principal, Mr. Anthony Joe Turkson, Dean of Students, and Mr Jones Addai Marfo, Secretary.

An affidavit supporting the case said the students body filed a writ of summons against the Takoradi Polytechnic seeking to suspend the second semester examinations scheduled for July 16, which it described as "inappropriate, premature, potentially destructive, detrimental and not in the best interest of the students".

It said an order be granted to restrain the Principal, the management, the council, their agents, servants or others from conducting the said exams for the 2006-2007 academic year until new SRC executives were constituted and that a decision of the Council on June 11 should be implemented.

The affidavit further stated that in spite of the notice, the school management ignored the court processes and went ahead to conduct the examination.

As a result of the motion, students of the Polytechnic were not prepared to write the examination when it took off on Monday. In separate interviews, a cross section of the students told the Ghana News Agency that they would not write the examination until the court decides on the motion.

The students said they were hoping that the examinations would be postponed because of the motion and had not prepared for it. However, many students later changed their minds and wrote the examinations.