Prof Anthony Afful-Broni
AN ATTEMPT by a group of dismissed staff of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) to stage turmoil on campus Tuesday, July 23, 2019, was subdued by authorities with the assistance of the Ghana Police.
Led by a former Vice-Chancellor, the group stormed the main administrative block, and headed straight to the council chamber to address a press conference to announce their assumption of leadership at the university.
However, a team of security officers, which was quickly summoned, removed the unauthorised group from the facility, and restored calm there.
Public Relations Officer of UEW, Ernest Azutiga, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE in an interview Thursday on campus, said the incident took place while the Vice-Chancellor was at post attending to normal activities. He said the Vice-Chancellor remained at post and carried out his lawful duties till the close of day.
Mr Azutiga therefore urged students, parents, staff, alumni and all other stakeholders of the university to treat with utmost contempt any suggestion that there has been a change of the Vice Chancellor.
In a statement issued and signed by the Registrar, the university emphasised that the Vice-Chancellor, Very Rev. Prof Anthony Afful-Broni, was still at post contrary to some mischievous reports circulating in mainstream media and on social media.
“We further assure our cherished students, parents, staff, alumni and all other stakeholders that the university premises are opened, safe and secured for business. All administrative and academic activities, including our sandwich sessions which commenced on Monday, July 22, 2019, are going on in earnest.
“We urge all stakeholders to remain calm and further wish to indicate that in due course, we shall keep them and the general public abreast of any new development in the university.”
He added that the dismissed staff were invited on a number of occasions to appear before a disciplinary board instituted by the UEW council to react to findings established against them by an established fact-finding committee but refused.
Members of the university teachers association and other staff have also in a statement, reacted to a press release issued by the group which staged the disorder.
“We the entire general members of UTAG-UEW are scandalized by a coup d’état-like press release issued on July 23rd 2019 by Dr. Frimpong Kaakyire Duku, president of UTAG-UEW and his executives, purporting that we the members of UTAG-UEW support a rather weird, scandalous and most frivolous position of a self-declared reinstatement back to office of the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mawutor Avoke, and some other dismissed staff of the University.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has emphasised that Prof Afful-Broni remained the Vice-Chancellor of UEW.
BY Samuel Boadi