An Accra High Court has ruled that the purported removal from office of Dr Wilberforce Dzisah, as the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), was wrong and unlawful.
The court has consequently directed that he is paid all his entitlements at the current bank rate of interest for the remainder of his unexpired fixed term as Rector of GIJ.
In a judgement delivered by the High Court (Labour Division-Court 1), on Wednesday, the court presided over by Justice Frank Aboagye Rockson, also directed the defendants (GIJ) to pay the plaintiff (Dr Dzisah) additional six months’ salary at the prevailing interest rate.
Justice Rockson also ordered GIJ to pay Dr Dzisah his additional responsibility allowance of 20 percent as the Director of the Graduate School from 2013-2017 with interest.
The court further stated that his withheld responsibility and entertainment allowances for July-December 2016 as Rector as well as research and book allowances for 2017 be paid to him at the current bank rate of interest.
The court also slapped a cost of GHS25,000.00 on GIJ.
It would be recalled that in March 2018, the Governing Council of GIJ sacked Dr Dzisah who was asked to proceed on leave.
Dr Dzisah, whose appointment was due to end in August 2018, had it terminated in a letter, dated Friday, March 23, 2018.
He was directed to proceed on leave in December 2017 over “procurement infractions.”
The Governing Council of GIJ then led by Prof. Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, Dr Margaret Amoakohene, and Dr Kweku Rockson among others took this costly decision without recourse to the GIJ Statutes and the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
This compelled the plaintiff to initiate legal action to right the wrong and to redeem his reputation as contained in Suit No. IL/0054/2018.
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Excerpts from the judgement of the court showed that the defendant’s allegations of procurement infractions which were levelled against the former Rector were not even mentioned in their defence before the court.
Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh told the court that they (Governing Council) had no report indicting the plaintiff before the court but just decided as a collective to get rid of him.