A clearly peeved former President Jerry John Rawlings complain about how the ousted Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Prof Mawutor Avoke has been denied justice with the refusal by authorities to reinstate him after being cleared by the courts.
To press home his demand for justice for the embattled VC, the former president penned a letter to the Minister of National Security, Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah, asking him to work with stakeholders to ensure that Prof. Avoke is given back his former designation at UEW.
“Honourable Minister, there is a clear case of injustice and the continued non-resolution of this matter is justice denied and untenable,” ex-President Rawlings wrote.
According to him, “As per the Professor’s request, I will be grateful if you can look into the merits of the latest developments and take the necessary steps in consultation with the relevant stakeholders that will be satisfactory, justifiable and equitable in the eye of the law.”
Apparently, Prof. Avoke who had been cleared of wrongdoing by both the courts and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), had petitioned the former president to intervene in what appears to be a deliberate attempt to ignore orders from the courts and EOCO for him to be reinstated.
In 2017, Prof. Avoke a few principal officers of UEW were officially charged by Effutu Member of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, for allegedly breaching procurement processes in the award of contracts to Sparkx Ghana Limited for five district projects. But EOCO said there was no breach of the Public Procurement Act in the award of those contracts.
Also, EOCO cleared Prof Avoke of any wrongdoing in the award of a contract to Paa Badu Construction Limited to put up a 2000-bed hostel, another to C-Deck Limited for clinic extension works at Winneba, as well as the construction of a basic school at Kumasi.
Eventually, Mr. Afenyo-Markin conceded his error and has since been campaigning for the reinstatement of the displaced VC.
Lawyer and Member of the Parliament for the Effutu constituency in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo-Markin a couple of months ago, secured a High Court Injunction against the current Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Anthony Afful-Broni.
This injunction meant the deposed former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Avoke could resume his role at the helm of the University after almost a year of having been hounded out and several months of being refused reinstatement despite Supreme Court on October 31, 2018, ordering his reinstatement.
Whatsup News gathered that the current VC, Prof. Afful-Broni, appointed by the Akufo Addo administration to replace Prof. Avoke, is refusing to bulge from the VC position of UWE. He allegedly enjoying the support of some powerful hands in the government administration.
According to Mr. Rawlings, the sacking of Prof. Avoke had created a “complex situation, leaving the exonerated Prof. Avoke and his colleagues still out of work”.