Court did not order closure of UEW – Afenyo-Markin

The lawyer for the plaintiff who is challenging the legitimacy of the University of Education Winneba (UEW)’s council says the court order issued Tuesday did not amount to the closure of the school.
Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin says he does not understand the link between the order of the court and the closure of the university.
“I can say on good authority that the court did not order the closure of the University. All I remember the court saying is that the University should not do anything that would undermine the relief stated therein,” he told Joy News’ Emefa Appau on Newsnight programme.
The University closed down its campuses across the country on Tuesday following an order by the Winneba High Court restraining members of its governing council and some principle officers from holding themselves as such.
A press release from the University on Wednesday clarified an earlier statement issued Tuesday regarding the closure as ordered by the court.
“The decision was taken to avoid any confrontation since the counsel for the plaintiff indicated that he has people on the ground to monitor the verbal directive given in court,” part of the statement said.
But the lawyer who doubles as a legislator said the closure of the University is as a result of the Vice Chancellor, Acquah Mensah and others who want to shut it down and nothing to do with the orders of the court.
“That is very disrespectful to the court and the matter will be taken up when we go to the court on Friday. If you are a party to a litigation and you decide to litigate outside the court to court public sympathy, act with impunity and subject the court to ridicule, it has to be brought to the attention of the court,” he said.




Meanwhile, an urgent question has been filed on the floor of parliament demanding that the Education Minister should respond to the closure of the University’s campuses across the country.
The ranking member of the Education Committee Peter Nortsu who summoned the Education Minister to Parliament said the development is in bad taste and wants an explanation regarding the closure of the university.
Mr Nortsu wants to know what necessitated the closure and what is being done to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“The closure was unfortunate and I think there could have been a better way of going about the issue,” he said.
According to him, once the Minister is in charge of all matters regarding education in the country in is in a better position to explain why the development got to such a crescendo.

Source:Myjoyonline