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A can of worms has opened at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) where its Vice-Chancellor has been fingered in massive corruption and an alleged plan to assassinate a former internal auditor, who consequently fled the country.
Prof. Abednego Oko Feehi has allegedly been splurging millions of school money on personal comforts since assuming office in 2017 and has coerced the schools’ administration into silence as he milks the school with family and friends.
Michael Quaye, a former Internal Auditor who has fled to the US after his scrutiny of the activities, has detailed the alleged rot including in a petition to the school’s governing board.
Mr. Quaye also alleged that the VC may have sent assassins after him for exposing his alleged misapplication of school funds.
Among other things, Prof. Feehi is said to have splurge GHC 2million on luxury cars for his personal use immediately he assumed office in 2017. He has allegedly, also monopolized supply contract to his aunt and employed unqualified family members and friends whose qualification, he falsified.
The petition which WhatsUp News has intercepted is dated 31st July 2020. It pleads for the Governing Board to open a probe into the conduct of the Vice-Chancellor.
According to the petition, at the time he was living off the school coffers extravagantly with luxury cars, the University had a whole pool of cars for his picking and choosing.
Prof. Abednego Feehi is also said to have purchased the vehicles at a time that President Akufo-Addo had banned the purchase of vehicles by all state entities.
The petition also said Prof, Feehi, splurged another GHC 1million to renovate his house to taste, among other things buying a generator for a whopping GHC 80,000.
According to the petition, about 90% of all procurements by the school between January and October 2019 were for Prof. Feehi’s personal use.
To ensure he had absolute grip on the procurements, the UPSA VC has allegedly been using surrogate companies. One of them, Kabad Place Enterprise, the petition said, supplies everything to the University under the watchful eyes of the VC who has become Procurement Officer.
Another alleged surrogate company, Pages Ink and More is said to belong to an auntie of the UPSA VC. In 2018, Pages Ink and More was contracted to supply 4000 copies of students handbook. They were paid the contract amount of GHC 95,584 in advance. They ended up supplying only 200 while documents were falsified to cover up the shortfalls, the petition alleged.
Prof. Abednego Feehi is also accused by the petitioner of employing six unqualified people as lecturers at UPSA. These lecturers, it said held only first degrees when at least a Masters is required to be a lecturer. After their employment, they were put on salary for close to two years even though they were not qualified, the petition said.
Among the six, it continued, is the Vice Chancellor’s personal Secretary. Another is Prof. Feehi’s Pastor’s son who holds a post-graduate diploma from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) with a 3rd class. The petition said these employees had their qualifications falsified to cover their inadequate qualification to be lecturers.
In all, more than 400 unqualified people have been employed by the VC, the petition alleged.
As internal Auditor, he had been critical of the Vice Chancellor’s activities and so on the 6th of September, 2019, he was transferred to the Finance Directorate of the school. That very day, he closed from work and got home to meet assassins waiting for him.
Wielding machetes, guns, syringes and other offensive weapons, the assailants had tied him and his wife and ransacked his home, carrying away his car, laptops, phones and money among other personal effects.
Mr. Michael Quaye says he reported the incident to the Devtraco Police at Tema Community 5 who advised that the attack was not a robbery but an assassination attempt that he miraculously escaped.
However, after the Police’ advise, they had developed cold feet on the case and so after a couple of weeks, the former UPSA Internal Auditor fled to the US with his family.
He wants the UPSA board to probe the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abednego Oko Feehi.