It’s preposterous to accuse us of political partisanship – UEW bites Afenyo-Markin

The University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has taken on the MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin for making what may be described as spurious allegations against the university.

According to the university, claims by the MP that the university has been acting against some political parties are preposterous. “It is preposterous for the Hon. MP to accuse the University of political partisanship.

It has been a policy of Management to make the facility available to citizens for the organization of their programmes either as private individuals or as groups when applications are so submitted to that effect,” the university said in a press statement from the Registrar of UEW.

“The Hon. MP should supply any copy of an application made on behalf of any political party for use of the Liberation Square that the University Management refused to grant,” the statement dared him.

It also described as “far from the truth” allegation by Mr. Afenyo-Markin that the university sidelines the indigenes in the offer of employment. “We have on our payroll records to prove otherwise. Records at our Human Resource Division indicate that fifty point two percent (50.2%) of all Junior Staff in the employment of the University from January 2004 and December 2016 were indigenes from Winneba.

It is also on record that 33% of all employees in Winneba are indigenes of Effutu extraction living in Winneba.”

Find below the full statement by UEW PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA ON RECENT PRONOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR EFFUTU.

The University of Education, Winneba has, in recent times been the subject of discussions in both the print and electronic media championed by the Hon. Member of Parliament for Effutu, Hon. Afenyo-Markin. The Hon MP has accused the University of political partisanship, failure to recognize the local community in the affairs of the University including recruitments and award of contracts.

He ended his statements by calling for the removal of Principal Officers of the University from office and hand over the University administration to him for the attention of the Transition Team.

The University wishes to put the records straight because some members of the public would naturally take the issues raised by the Hon. MP serious even though some others might allow them through the window. In the first place we wish to address the issue of recruitments.

The Hon. MP accused the University of not favouring the local people in recruiting people for such areas as cleaners, security personnel and other categories of the junior staff. We have on our payroll records to prove otherwise. Records at our Human Resource Division indicate that fifty point two percent (50.2%) of all Junior Staff in the employment of the University from January 2004 and December 2016 were indigenes from Winneba.

It is also on record that 33% of all employees in Winneba are indigenes of Effutu extraction living in Winneba. These statistics explain that where vacancies exist the University is fully aware of its social responsibility to offer the place to the indigenes first before any other ethnic group is considered. It is therefore not true that the university sidelines the indigenes in the offer of employment.

The statement that the university management brings in their relations from afar to take up jobs meant for the indigenes is far from the truth. On the award of contracts, the University was accused of giving out ten contracts to their relations without due process.

The Procurement Law is very explicit in the procedure for the award of contracts. The tender and procurement records are there for verification by any investigator. The University of Education, Winneba cannot deny contractors from Winneba who bid for works or supplies and qualify for such awards. He went on further to accuse the Principal Officers on TV3 Newspaper Review program, of open partisanship in the affairs of the University.

He buttressed his point by saying that a particular political party was denied the use of a University facility at the Liberation Square whiles others were granted the use of same facility.

It is preposterous for the Hon. MP to accuse the University of political partisanship. It has been a policy of Management to make the facility available to citizens for the organization of their programmes either as private individuals or as groups when applications are so submitted to that effect. The Hon. MP should supply any copy of an application made on behalf of any political party for use of the Liberation Square that the University Management refused to grant.

The University is an academic institution and not the extension of any political party and therefore concentrates on its core functions of training and producing the human resources (who belong to all people of political shades) for the country. We also deny the assertion that the Liberation Square has been turned into a funeral ground.

The Hon. MP has also accused the University Management, especially the Vice Chancellor and the Finance Officer, of not being properly appointed and should be removed from office.

He directed that they should handover their duties to the Pro Vice Chancellor until a new Vice Chancellor is appointed. He contends that the Governing Council that appointed the Vice Chancellor had been a de facto Council because their tenure had expired in 2013.

Even though the Council’s tenure had expired, the University communicated same to the Presidency of the Republic of Ghana through the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education to either allow the same Council to continue or appoint a new one.

The Chief Director of the Ministry and the Executive Secretary of the NCTE can attest to the fact that the correspondences had been received to allow them to continue. In any case this same de facto Council had appointed the said Pro Vice Chancellor to whom the Hon. MP had directed the VC to hand over the administration of the University.

The same de facto Council had appointed Deans of Faculties and Principals of Colleges. The same de facto Council had graduated students, some of them from Winneba, who successfully completed their four years of study in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Promotions to Senior Lecturers, Associate Professors and Professors during the period had also been done by the same de facto Council.

If the Council was de facto all these appointments and graduations could be considered null and void. We wish to inform all and sundry that the governance structure of the University of Education, Winneba and for that matter any university in Ghana and the world over is governed by an Act of Parliament, The University of Education, Winneba Act 2004, Act 672.

The Act by section 23 empowers Council to enact Statutes for the day-to-day running of the institution. Section 1(2) of the University of Education, Winneba Act 2004, Act 672 states that: “ 1(2) The University shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal and may sue or be sued in its own name.”

The Act also spells out the terms of appointment of the Vice Chancellor (enunciated in Section 7 of the Statutes) and other principal officers of the university (as can be seen in Sections 13, 14, 15, 18 and 19 of the Statutes). Appointments of the Vice Chancellor and the tenure of same are not by the fiat of any person except by law.

Removal of the Vice Chancellor or any Principal Officer is procedurally spelt out by the Statutes of the University. Finally we wish to reiterate that the University exists to equip Ghanaians with tools to become assets to national development. It is not guided by ethnocentricism or political orientation.

It is however minded by its social responsibility as available records will show. The University considers its community partnership extremely important and is amenable to working together to ensure the entire development of the Constituency and District. Thank you. Registrar