The Paramount Chiefs of the Kassena Nankana Traditional Area have declared their unwavering support for the Governing Council of the C.K. Tedam University of Technology & Applied Sciences in its search for leadership.
Led by Professor Gordon Awandare, Chairman of the Governing Board, the council is currently engaged in the search for suitable candidates to fill the positions of Vice Chancellor and Registrar for the university.
“In particular, we declare our unflinching support for the adoption of best practices by the Governing Council in the criteria and procedures for appointing the next Vice-Chancellor and Registrar. We further state unequivocally that we are ready to work with the Management Team that would be put in place to help position the University, to achieve its mandate of “providing quality higher education, research, knowledge generation and dissemination with emphasis on basic and applied sciences and mathematics for the socio-economic development of Ghana and beyond”, the chiefs made a declaration.
It would be recalled that a youth group from Navrongo on February 24th during a press briefing cited impartially in the search and recruitment of a Vice Chancellor and Registrar. The group admonished the Governing Council to ensure fairness, devoid of irregularities in selecting new leadership of the university.
In a press statement signed by the Paramount Chief of Chiana and President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs, Pe Ditundini Adiali Ayagitam III and other paramount chiefs of the Kassena Nankana Traditional Area, they condemned the action by the “faceless individuals” and call on the security services to deal with them going forward.
“We also deem it imperative to express our disgust at attempts by faceless individuals to misinform, mislead, and incite a cross-section of the youth of Navrongo against the Governing Council and its highly esteemed Chairman during the process of a search for a new Vice-Chancellor and Registrar. Notice is hereby served that such counter-productive acts shall not be countenanced henceforth. While urging members of the university community to resort to well-established internal procedures for dispute resolution, we equally entreat the Police and the National Investigation Bureau to act swiftly to avert unwarranted demonstrations and acts of violence intended to disrupt the smooth running of the university.”
The two positions became vacant when the Bolgatanga High Court issued a perpetual injunction against Professor Eric Magnus Wilmot and Dr. Vincent Ankamah-Lomotey, who served as the Vice Chancellor and Registrar, respectively. The court ruled for the removal of the two because they had attained the age of retirement while at the post when the university had not given them a contract of employment.
The paramount chiefs in their release backed their unflinching support to the Governing Council adding that the C.K. Tedam University of Technology & Applied Sciences is a national asset that the people of the Upper East Region are privileged to have situated on the soil.
“It, therefore, behooves on us to jealously protect and preserve it, hence the urgent need to eschew needless litigations and acts of violence that have the potential to derail the progress of the university.”
The chiefs appeal to the government, development partners, corporate entities, and well-meaning individuals to come to the aid of the university in its quest to address the infrastructural inadequacies, through the construction of lecture halls, hostel facilities, science laboratories, and office space for smooth academic work.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Ghana
