A five-member mediation committee to resolve the impasse between the Sunyani Polytechnic branch of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) and the Registrar, Mr Samuel Ankamah Obour, last Monday presented its report to the polytechnic governing council.
According to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report, the committee, chaired by Mrs Beatrice B.A. Prempeh, a retired educationist, was to investigate allegations made against Mr Obour.
Other members are Reverend Kwadwo Owusu Sarpong, Brong Ahafo Presbytery Chairman of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Nana Bofotia Boa Amponsem II, Krontihene of Sunyani, Mr Emmanuel Gyan, a Member of the Governing Council and Mr Yaw Wiredu–Peprah, Solicitor of the polytechnic.
Mrs Prempeh expressed concern about the refusal of members of POTAG to appear before the committee even though it was set up based on their allegations.
Mr Isaac Kwasi Asamoah, Chairman of the governing council, commended the committee and called on members of POTAG to work in the interest of the polytechnic and not the association.
Among the allegations were that Mr Obour single–handedly created communication gap between the administration and the academic department, intentionally refuse to send documents given to him by the rector for external assessment for promotion of lecturers, leading to delays in promotions, and employing lecturers without the knowledge of deans and heads of department.
In a related development, the Registrar of the Sunyani Polytechnic, Mr Samuel Ankama Obour, has filed a suit at the Sunyani High Court against the local branch of the Polytechnic Teachers Association (POTAG), claiming GH¢2,000,000 in general damages for defamation, writes Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah.
According to a suit filed on his behalf by Adom Legal Consult Ltd, the plaintiff’s character was defamed by members of the defendant when they made malicious and unfounded publications against him in the Ghanaian media on March 13, 2013.
That, it said, had subjected him to public ridicule, hatred and contempt and had lowered his reputation in the eyes of right thinking members of the public.