Opinions of Sunday, 7 January 2018

Columnist: Alhassan Salifu Bawah

Turning the University of Education into a glorified Junior High School

File photo; Entrance of the University of Education, Winneba File photo; Entrance of the University of Education, Winneba

From babies in the womb to all reasonable persons in the world, do we solemnly forgive Prof. Kweku Sofoh for getting the name of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), wrong. The correct name of the said university as captured under Act 672, is NOT "University of Education In Winneba".

He is forgiven wholeheartedly, because he has accepted that he is a dunderhead, hence his abandonment of the title 'Professor' in his latest write-ups.



If Prof. Kweku Sofoh failed to get the name of the very University he is writing about right, what else do you expect such a sordid and sad figure to get right in the rest of his article?



All what Prof. Kweku Sofoh wishfully whinged about in his latest write-up, in all respect, bothers on morality, which has no place in a court of law.



If resigning from the position of a VC and taking up the Chairmanship of a Governing Council is a violation of any relevant law in Ghana, even babies know that the appropriate forum is the law court.



How many times must it be repeated to stupid fools like Prof. Kweku Sofoh and his fellow bought empty heads that the President of the Republic is NOT Supreme law in Ghana? The 1992 Constitution and all the other relevant legislations, reign Supreme in Ghana, therefore, a Presidential letter authorising an extension of the mandate of a University governing council is null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever!! That letter by ex President John Mahama, is unconstitutional.



Let us, for a second, examine contents of the letter: does Prof. Avoke-Sofoh not realise that the letter gave conditions under which the Council was to operate? Didn’t President Mahama say that the Council could not commit the University to big contracts, etc? And by the way, if asking the Council to continue running was so right, why did Prof. Jane Opoku Agyeman run to reconstitute the Council that same week after having been dragged to Parliament?



A sitting President wanted a Special Prosecutor; did he just write a letter setting the Office of Special Prosecutor up? Why can't this Prof. Avoke-Sofoh and his sad followers, behave like people who have ever sat in class one?



Prof. Avoke could have founded UEW, or founded Ghana, or even founded the world; these would all be irrelevant in a court of law, if the said Prof. Avoke, or Sofoh, or Avea, or Jinapor, or Adhzalie in their official positions as public officers, failed to follow due process in the award of a public contract, leading to a clear breach of a relevant legislation such as the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663), as amended.



It is on record that the five (5) tenderers for the Construction of the GUSSS Hostel Block - Winneba Site 2 (Santa Baron Ventures Ltd, Ghc 49,809,595.07; Premier Shelter Ltd, Ghc 53,798,615.20; Consar Ltd, Ghc 84,887,278.38; Nickseth Construction Co. Ltd, Ghc 52,763,103.27; and Proteus Ltd, Ghc 44,928,829.33), were all disqualified by the Consultant engaged by UEW to evaluate the bids.



However, Prof. Avoke-Sofoh-Ackorlie went ahead in clear violation of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663), as amended, to award the said contract to Proteus Ltd, even though Proteus Ltd, did not even make it to the Evaluation stage, due to failure to submit proof of line of credit as stipulated by the tender documents.



The case in court is not about concocted stories on publications of Prof. Avoke Vis-a-Vis the publications of any other person. The issues in court bother on Prof. Avoke's alleged criminal wrongdoing in the award of specific contracts, NOT fairy tales on publications, and having been appointed by an illegal governing council.



It is therefore incumbent on Prof. Kweku Sofoh and his bunch of hypnotised nincompoops, to quote a section of Act 663 as amended, or any other relevant law of this country, that Prof. Avoke derived authority from in the award of the above contract, and all the other shady and dodgy contracts he diabolically awarded to friends and cronies.



This is the only legal way forward to saving Prof. Avoke and Ackorlie from a potential jail term.



I don’t think that Prof. Avoke-Sofoh knows anything about fraud. The biggest fraud in the history of UEW is the entire process which appointed Prof. Avoke as VC. Where in UEW Statutes did it require that the VC should be a 'FOOL PROFESSOR'? Prof. Avoke-Sofoh must be reminded that his appointment is the most ridiculous event in UEW, since the scoring was so ridiculously done. How do you score EXPERIENCE over 400 and the actual performance at the interview over 100? Why did they keep changing the rules in the entire process?



How much did Prof. Avoke-Sofoh-Ackorlie pay their people on the Search Party officially and unofficially? What were those reps of the Search Party doing at the Flagstaff House during the artificial break period in the hunt for the successor to Prof. Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw? How much did Prof. Avoke-Sofoh-Ackorlie pay?

Is it not shameful that for a brilliant 'FOOL PROFESSOR', the best that UEW has ever witnessed, his final score at the interview was 63%? How inconsistent of UEW, when it had turned down the application of another Professor to the Principal’s position in UEW-Kumasi with the excuse that he scored less than 70%!!!



How shameful that apart from the Chairman of the Search party and the Chairman of Council, no one at the Governing Council had a copy of the Search Party’s Report when it was being presented!!! Funny enough though, that very morning, the report of the applications for the University Librarian had been presented with copies served to EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER!!



Shame on Prof. Avoke-Sofoh-Ackorlie! Now you see that these are the stuff you refer to as FRAUD!

More coming!!!