The High Court has adjourned the second lawsuit challenging the extension of Professor Akosua Dickson’s tenure as Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to September 4, 2024.
The suit, filed by Isaac Mensah, a stores superintendent at the university’s Procurement Department, claims that the governing council’s decision to extend Professor Dickson’s tenure was illegal and procedurally improper.
Mensah is seeking to nullify the extension, arguing that it breaches the university’s statutes and prevents other qualified candidates from being considered.
This lawsuit follows a similar case filed by Kofi Ohene Clement, an alumnus, who is appealing the High Court’s decision on the same matter. That case is also scheduled for the Court of Appeal on September 4, 2024.
Despite these legal challenges, the university maintains that its operations are unaffected.
University Relations Officer Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe has urged the university community to remain calm, assuring that the university’s lawyers are well-equipped to handle the situation.
Regarding an alleged contempt suit against the university, Dr. Bekoe stated that the university has not yet received any formal service of such a suit.
“Today, both parties were in court and because one of the processes was filed late on Friday, the judge had to give some space for the other party, the respondents, to file their response.
On that note, there was an agreement or consensus that the case be adjourned to 4th September 2024.
“The university is running smoothly and the vice chancellor is in office doing what she has to do.
Currently, as I speak to you, all the students are writing their end-of-semester examinations.
All I want to say is that I want to urge all the university community, or members of the university community, including students, to remain calm.”
Meanwhile, the vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof Rita Akosua Dickson resumed her two-year extension of tenure on the 1st of August 2024.
