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The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration is in danger of losing millions of Ghana Cedis as interest on debt owed Koans Building Solution after Rector and Council Chair decide not to pay debt owed the Real Estate Firm despite directive from the High court to do so.
From court documents and other agreements between both parties available to me, the erstwhile leadership of the institution purchased a thousand acre plot of land from Real Estate Giants, Koans Building solutions to be paid over a period of six years. The total cost of the over 4000 plots of land is Twenty Four Million Ghana Cedis.
In the agreement, GIMPA is to pay Two Million every month of March and September over the agreed period of six years.
According to our investigation, without notice or reason given, the current Rector Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, and the Council Chairman, Nana Kofi Asante Bediatuo decided to halt payment starting from March 2018, a move opposed by other leadership wings of the institution who ascribed to the vision of expanding the institution.
Having exhausted all avenues to retrieve the money for the month of March and sensing foul play, Koans Building Solution proceeded to Court to seek judgement so that they’d be compelled to pay.
On the 13 of June, 2018, Justice of the High Court, Koforidua, His Lordship Mac Kogyapwah gave judgement in favour of the developer compelling GIMPA to pay the March instalment and additional One Hundred and Eighty Ghana Cedis representing interest accrued over the period of three months non-payment.
Despite the decision of the Rector, who is the institution's first Professor of Law and Council Chair costing a financial loss of One Hundred and Eighty Thousand Ghana Cedis to the Institution, they remain defiant even with orders from the Court of Law.
A section of students and other wings of the school’s management are at loss as to why the Rector will take a decision that was going to put needless financial burden on the institution.
They also fear that further delay can lead to the institution losing the land altogether based on the accumulation of interest swallowing amount paid over a long period of time despite having paid about 50% of the total cost of the land.
In the year 2014, the management of GIMPA in response to the oversubscription of their undergrad programs and the extra burden placed on the current campus due to huge student population decided to set up a dedicated campus for undergraduate programs so that the main GIMPA Campus can be used for management level programs.
With the new arrangement, GIMPA is most likely to be one of the biggest institution for undergraduate programs in the country having carved the niche for itself as the foremost and most credible institution for public administration and management programs over the years.
However, the eagerness of the current leadership of the institution to undo every good deed of the previous one is said to have brought the institution to stagnation and to the frustration of the students.
Our checks indicates that most of the projects embarked on by the previous Administration of the institution have been abandoned.
With an average of Ninety Thousand Ghana Cedis worth of interest added to the debt every week, the institution is likely to lose about a million Ghana Cedis in the next ten months if the courts directive isn’t heeded.
Effort to reach both parties for a response has proven futile so far.
More to come
