Supreme Court has not reinstated Avoke – UEW

The University of Education, Winneba has dismissed claims that the former Vice Chancellor of the university Professor Mawutor Avoke has been reinstated by the Supreme Court.

According to the university, such claims are completely false and a deliberate attempt to stampede the smooth administration of the University.

The governing council of the university in August dismissed Prof. Avoke and four others after they were indicted after an August 13 emergency meeting.

The governing council in July 2017 interdicted them to allow for investigations after it emerged that some vital documents at some offices at the centre of an ongoing investigation had gone missing.

Prof. Avoke’s removal came after a ruling in favour of the governing council by a Winneba High Court.

But the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, on Wednesday said the Judgment of the Winneba High Court, based on which Prof. Avoke was removed from office is wrong, stands quashed, and is therefore null and void, and of no effect.

The decision of the Supreme Court come nearly a month after the investiture ceremony of the Very Reverend Father Professor Anthony Afful-Broni as the new VC of the UEW.

Sections of the media had interpreted the ruling to mean that Prof Avoke had been reinstated.

But a statement by the university described reports that Prof. Avoke has been reinstated is clearly a figment of the imagination of the authors.



Below is the full statement by UEW

PURPORTED REINSTATEMENT OF FORMER VICE-CHANCELLOR OF UEW PROF. MAWUTOR AVOKE BY THE SUPREME COURT

The attention of the Management of UEW has been drawn to a news story being circulated widely on media to the effect that the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mawutor Avoke, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court effective Wednesday 31st October, 2018 and that the subsequent appointment of Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni has been rendered null and void.

We wish to emphatically state that the story is just a figment of the imagination of its author(s) and an attempt to stampede the smooth administration of the University and above all, intended to bring the name of the Supreme Court into disrepute.

The former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Avoke was dismissed by the Governing Council after due process had been followed. The matters leading to his dismissal were not the subject matter of the ruling. Prof. Avoke filed a process at the High Court, Labour Division, Accra on the matter, and on 20th September, 2018, same was dismissed.

It must also be put on record that an earlier application by Prof. Avoke and five others, challenging their interdiction by the Governing Council’s investigation into their conduct in the management of the affairs of the University as well as the appointment of the Ag. Vice-Chancellor, at the Cape Coast High Court, is currently a subject matter of an application for referral to the Supreme Court.

This is not the first time mischief of such nature has been tagged against UEW and will not be the last. But the truth will stand. We, however, wish to assure the University community and our stakeholders that we are working earnestly and progressively to make sure the University’s interests will always triumph.

For the avoidance of doubt, we entreat the general public and admonish anyone interested in the exact ruling of the Supreme Court to obtain a certified copy of the judgement without overly relying on half-truths and concocted statements.