Professor Mawutor Avoke
THE UNIVERSITY of Education, Winneba (UEW) has said it will comply wholly with a High Court order that directed it to reinstate Professor Mawutor Avoke as its Vice Chancellor.
Professor Avoke and some five staff members of the university were asked to vacate their posts based on allegations of procurement breaches, but a subsequent investigation by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) exonerated them of the said allegations.
A Winneba High Court, presided over by His Lordship Aboagye Tandoh, last week ordered for the reinstatement of Professor Mawutor Avoke as the substantive Vice Chancellor of the university following his exoneration by EOCO, so he can complete his unexpired term.
The five affected staff members are also to be reinstated on their grades but not necessarily to their last offices, according to the court order.
The university’s Governing Council met over the court order last Thursday and unanimously agreed to comply with the directives and not appeal against it.
Nana Ofori Ansah I, Chairman of the Governing Council spoke to the media after the meeting which lasted from 3pm to around 9pm: “We are complying with the orders of the court. The court says they should be reinstated and that is that. We would comply and reinstate them just as the courts have directed. There should not be a difficulty in complying with a court order.”
“We had to be briefed fully by our lawyer at the meeting and the decision was to wholly comply with the court’s ruling. The court says they should be reinstated and we have to comply with it. Whatever decision that will be taken, some will be happy, others will not so it is based on whose interest that person is playing into. Not everyone will be happy but it is a court order,” the Chairman added.
He said UEW currently does not have a substantive Vice Chancellor, therefore, there would be no hurdles in Professor Avoke returning to the office he once occupied.
Dr. Yaw Adutwum, Minister for Education was seen walking into the council meeting at the tail end but he declined speaking with journalists. Checks revealed that when the minister arrived, the council briefed him that the decision to comply with the court order without any further litigation was unanimous.
Avoke
Professor Avoke, hours after the court order, issued a statement in which he said he was ready to return to work and called for reconciliation, unity and the cooperation of all in the interest of UEW and the public.
“While I consider this judicial determination a total and final vindication of my position regarding the divisive issues that founded my removal from office, I am clear and certain in my mind that I will not boast over the outcome, no matter how reliving and joyous the judgment may seem.
“Instead, and with the help of the Almighty God, I intend to work every day with all the genuineness of heart, skill and diligence at my disposal to ensure that complete and total reconciliation is done between me and all the persons who may seem to have been vanquished by today’s judicial determination,” Professor Avoke noted.
Neenyi Ghartey VII
In a related development, the Paramount Chief of Effutu who doubles as Presient of the Effutu Traditional Council, Neenyi Ghartey VII has called on the UEW Governing Council to do the needful by complying with the court orders without any further litigation in the interest of peace.
“The fact that the council is being directed by the court to ensure compliance, the Traditional Council looks forward to council’s expeditious action in respect of the orders without further litigation.
“In view of the past turbulence which affected the image of the school and by extension Winneba, we also entreat council to put in measures that will ensure a manifest reconciliation for peace to reign without further rancour. We wish the incoming Vice Chancellor well in office and urge him to be a father of all in spite of all that has happened in the past,” Neenyi Ghartey VII said.