Prof Aryeetey ‘enslaved’ Legon by signing dubious contract - Prof. Oduro

The current Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana has revealed the 64m dollar contract signed by his predecessor Prof Ernest Aryeetey has enslaved the University of Ghana as the contract has unfavourable terms of disengagement.

In 2015, the University under the leadership of Prof. Aryeetey entered into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Africa Integras to invest US$64 million in the construction of 1,000 new students’ hostel beds for undergraduate and post-graduate students on the Legon campus.

The said project was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract. Reports later emerged that the University, then under Prof. Aryeetey signed the agreement without any basic due diligence.

It was revealed that the University, under the terms of the contract, is to pay Africa Integras an amount of 10 million dollars annually for the next 25 years.

“The agreement was signed in September 2015, construction started in February 2016 way before I took over as VC… so it’s obvious and it has been obvious before I took over that that condition was impossible to meet. As to why we signed, this is the question that has led us to where we are today”, Prof Oduro, current VC told staff of the University.

The VC indicated that he has been trying to understand the decision to no avail and that at this moment, University of Ghana needs a rescue mission as the contracts didn’t have reasonable exit clauses.

“I don’t understand, you don’t understand, council doesn’t understand. So we are where we are today because we don’t understand.

“There are clauses in that Agreement that completely enslaves the University as an institution. And so right now the answer to that question as to why we signed the agreement, let me be very frank with you because where we are nobody can hide any fact from us or from the public. That question remains unanswered and I wish somebody could provide me with that answer.

Nevertheless, we’ve gotten or we’re getting to the tail end of it and the demand involves fight and energy to rescue this university, otherwise what is going to happen is not good: an international court could give an order and this university could be taken over.” Prof Ebenezer Oduro Owusu said.



Aryeetey responds

“There is no scandal at all in relation to the $64.4 million contract. Africa Integras signed an agreement that they were supposed to spend that money. As far as I know, by the time the project stopped, they had spent about $28 million. How does a phoney company come and spend $28 million? You can see the buildings coming up and yet it has been written that I have signed an agreement with a phoney company. We haven’t spent any money ourselves, it’s the ‘phony’ company that’s spending the money; how does a phoney company put up buildings?” Professor Aryeetey asked.

“I can assure the public that nothing untoward took place. The processes that were followed were very transparent. It’s being suggested that there was something corrupt, but there’s no such thing. I was never offered any money by any of the persons we dealt with. I have never asked for anything nor have I taken money from anybody in relation to this or any other project. Any suggestions of wrongdoing will be completely misplaced.”, he added.

In another interview he said: “The University of Ghana has decided, for whatever reason, to take different position on decisions we took collectively. The University of Ghana and its new management has decided that many of the decisions that we took need to be relooked. That is extremely unfortunate as far as I’m concerned,” Prof Aryeetey said in 21 Minutes with KKB on Ghanaweb.

“When I was about to retire, I was looking forward to be able to write my books, do my research, travel around the world… I didn’t think that I would be spending the first year of my retirement fighting to salvage my reputation. I don’t enjoy talking about the University of Ghana like this but I’ve reached the point where it’s my reputation” he told Ghanaweb’s KKB.

Education Minister

Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, days ago said that the University of Ghana risked being privatized if it fails to meet its obligations in a $64 million agreement it entered into with a private company, Africa Integras.

“University of Ghana might be put up for sale because it entered into an agreement and the school is unable to abide by the terms and conditions of the contract. Under this contract, Legon is expected to pay 10 million dollars every year for 25 years. If Legon is unable to settle this loan, its assets will be seized,” the Minister said in an interview with Peace FM’s Kwame Sefa Kayi.