A Navrongo resident, Joseph Pwoawuvi Weguri, has filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Eric Magnus Wilmot, and the registrar, Dr V.A. Ankamah-Lomotey, on the grounds that they are above the retirement age and are, therefore, ineligible to hold their positions.
The plaintiff is also asking the court to order the two to refund all monies received from the Consolidated Fund and/or from the university, and costs, including his legal fees.
In his suit filed on March 20, 2023, Weguri described the appointments of the two university officials as “unlawful, arbitrary, and illegal” and wanted the court to nullify them.
The plaintiff alleges that the Act establishing the university mandates it to appoint its officers, including a vice-chancellor and registrars, in accordance with the statutes of the university.
However, the plaintiff claims that the appointing authorities violated the public service laws of Ghana by allowing the public officers to remain in full-term employment after they attained the age of compulsory retirement. In addition, the GTEC cautioned public universities on appointments and post-retirement contracts in a circular dated June 8, 2021.
Despite this warning, the university appointed Prof. Eric Magnus Wilmot and Dr. V.A. Ankamah-Lomotey as Vice-Chancellor and Registrar of the institution respectively, for full terms of four years each. The plaintiff alleges that before his appointment as the substantive vice-chancellor, Prof. Wilmot, who had retired as a public officer of the University of Cape Coast in 2019, was first appointed interim vice-chancellor of the institution.
Although Prof. Wilmot and Dr Ankamah-Lomotey have attained the ages of compulsory retirement, they have remained in full-term employment at the university and have been receiving salaries and allowances from the Consolidated Fund.
The plaintiff, who contested the 2016 parliamentary election on the ticket of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), asserts that the continuous occupation of office and withdrawal of salaries and allowances by the two university administrators, after they had attained the age of compulsory retirement and after Prof. Wilmot had retired from the public service, is not only unlawful but also illegal.
Mr Weguri claims that while Prof. Wilmot turned 60 years old in April 2022, Dr Ankamah-Lomotey turned 60 years old in August 2021.
The plaintiff further states that the university did not follow laid down procedures in appointing the two, which included constituting a search party, publishing vacancies, and shortlisting applicants for interviews to select suitable persons for the positions, including the positions of Vice-Chancellor and registrars.
He said he had petitioned the Minister of Education and the university for the removal of the two university officials, but the petition was dismissed on unjustifiable grounds.
According to the petition, it was in compliance with the Ghanaian Constitution that President Nana Akufo-Addo first appointed the duo in an interim capacity in May 2020.
However, the then Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh; the Director-General of GTEC and the Governing Council of CKT-UTAS violated the 1992 Constitution by appointing them into substantive positions with effect from September 2020 in a letter dated December 1, 2020, for a full term of four years.
