KNUST professor sues university over unfair treatment

The head of the Department of Architecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Professor Rexford Assasie Oppong has filed a lawsuit against the university’s vice-chancellor and senior management.

The legal action which centers around allegations of improper disciplinary procedures and breaches of university regulations, seeks a range of legal remedies, including an injunction against the implementation of a recent directive issued by the vice-chancellor.

Background

In a court document sighted by otecfmghana.com, Prof Oppong states that he received a letter from the registrar of KNUST on 23 March 2023 informing him of a petition submitted by several senior members of his department.

The petition accused him of multiple infractions, including harassment and intimidation of staff, making unilateral decisions without consulting the department board, violating the School of Graduate Studies’ regulations on postgraduate studies, and disrupting mid-semester exams held on 1 March 2023.

Prof Oppong maintains that the allegations are baseless and that the process used to investigate them was procedurally flawed.

According to him, the fact-finding committee formed by the vice-chancellor, led by Professor I K Badu, was not constituted in accordance with the university’s statutes, which require a disciplinary committee for such matters rather than a fact-finding committee.

Applicant’s Arguments

Prof Oppong argues that the committee’s formation and procedures violated his constitutional right to a fair hearing. He contends that he was not given the opportunity to cross-examine the petitioners during the committee’s interactions. Despite providing oral and documentary evidence refuting the claims against him, the fact-finding committee proceeded with its investigations and submitted a report to the Vice Chancellor.

Court documents show that on 14 August 2024, Prof Oppong received a letter from the Registrar communicating the vice chancellor’s directive, based on the committee’s report.

Prof Oppong, however, has refused to comply with the directive, asserting that the committee’s findings were biased and lacked credibility.

He describes the report as flawed and claims that it failed to meet professional standards, alleging that the committee’s work was characterized by procedural impropriety.

Reliefs

In his lawsuit, filed on 19 September 2024, Prof. Oppong is asking the court to invalidate the actions taken by the fact-finding committee and to prohibit the implementation of the vice chancellor’s directive.

He is also seeking an injunction to prevent any individual from acting in a public office for which they are not legally entitled.

Prof. Oppong asserts that the university’s actions have severely impacted his professional standing and that the procedural violations have caused him unjust harm.

University’s Position

At the time of this report, KNUST has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. However, sources within the university indicate that the institution plans to defend its actions, maintaining that the process followed was fair and transparent.

The court is expected to sit on the case on 14 October 2024.