TWO law students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who were dismissed over alleged examination malpractices have explained that they have not been re-admitted to the university.
Mr Alfred Obeng Boateng, one of the students, said the Daily Graphic report in its issue of Monday, July 7 that the university had re-admitted them was misrepresented.
“The reporter may not have gotten the full import of the interview he had with me on the court ruling on the issue and I want to set the records straight that we have not been re-admitted,” he said.
He, however, indicated that they would take appropriate action to compel the university to re-admit them in line with the High Court ruling.
Prof. K.K. Adarkwah, the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, also told this paper that the university had not re-admitted the students.
The students, Alfred Obeng Boateng, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Approachers (Ghana) Limited, and Ato Kwamena Sam Ghartey, both part-time law students, were dismissed in October, 2007, while in the second year of their programme, after they were accused by the authorities of having cheated in the second semester examinations
However, they filed a writ for certiorari at the Kumasi High Court and won in March, this year.
In quashing the university’s decision, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Imoru Ziblim, said the dismissals were irrational, unreasonable and had no legal basis.
Mr Boateng told the Daily Graphic that the persistent refusal by the university authorities to restore their studentships was a deliberate attempt to ruin their future, and that, “we would go back to the court to ensure that the law takes its course”.
A certified true copy of the ruling said by two separate letters dated November 22, 2007, the university declared the two students dismissed after constituting a committee to investigate the alleged malpractices.
It said the counsel for the students, Mr Akwasi Afrifa, argued that he and his clients had to boycott the sittings of the committee after the authorities rejected their objection to the composition of the panel.
In their statement of case, the university authorities admitted that the committee continued to sit even though the two students and their counsel boycotted the committee sittings.
On October 31, 2007, the committee submitted its report to the Dean of the Faculty of Law who forwarded it to the Vice Chancellor through the Provost of the College of Art and Social Sciences.
The university authorities further stated that the conduct of the two students were scandalous and disgraceful, and the university therefore considered them unfit to continue to be in the university.
However, Mr Justice Ziblim, in his ruling, described the words coming from the university as harsh, especially weighed against the fact that their decision to dismiss the students was made in contravention of the rules of natural justice.
He said the conduct of the committee prevented the two students from giving evidence, whilst no witnesses were called during the committee’s sittings.
The judge therefore asked, “On what basis therefore did the committee reach the decision to dismiss the applicants?”
Justice Ziblim referred to the university’s regulations, which states that, “Candidates caught in breach of examination regulations should be allowed to write the paper while the Dean in consultation with the Provost of the College appoints a committee to investigate the matter and presents a report to the Provost who shall promptly forward the report, including his recommendations, to the Vice Chancellor”.
He stated that if this was anything to go by, then even if the students were caught in examination malpractices the university contravened its own regulation by refusing to allow them to write the examinations.
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