General News of Saturday, 6 April 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

We need a peaceful UEW - Afenyo Markin

Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin

Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the MP for Efutu has called on stakeholders in the impasse at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), to adopt a reconciliatory path to bring to an end to the crisis at the University.

The University, located in Winneba in the Efutu Constituency, in the Central Region, has been closed down for nearly a month after students’ demonstration over the dismissal of some lecturers and staff by the Vice Chancellor Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni.

However, the MP has indicated that the decision to reinstate only three of the lecturers does not reflect the consensus reached among stakeholders.

“Mr Afenyo Markin told journalists at a mini press conference, at the Parliament House, in Accra: “we need a peaceful University of Education”, and appealed to the Vice-Chancellor to be ready, with a reconciliatory approach, coupled with his religious background to bring the impasse to an end.

The MP indicated his unhappiness with the approach, which he described as a half-baked solution to the leadership crisis.

“The contention has been that these people were being victimized. If you study each of the cases, you will get to know that someone like Akwasi, for instance, was suspended for merely sending a WhatsApp message,” he said.

Students of the University have expressed misgivings about the leadership style of the Vice-Chancellor and described it as authoritarian.

The issues at the University was as a result of a legal tussle, after an interdiction in 2017, which resulted in the dismissal of the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mawutor Avoke, in 2018 by the Governing Council.

The school, which was closed after the students’’ demonstration, is expected to resume on 8 April 2019.