The University of Ghana (UG) is seeking to remove the judge hearing the substantive case between it and some students of its all-male Commonwealth Hall.

According to the management, it wants the decision taken due to Justice Francis Obiri supposed affinity with the Hall. This petition was included in a Motion Certiorari filed by Kwabena Adusei, explaining that the Judge’s ‘relationship’ with the hall and “his conduct of the case so far suggests a real likelihood of bias”.

Mr Adusei stated that Justice Obiri “was officially attached to Akuafo Hall as a resident during his undergraduate studies. This notwithstanding, he stayed in Commonwealth Hall throughout his undergraduate studies and was actively involved in vandalism and its ideologies”.

In a supporting affidavit, the UG’s Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof Gordon Awandare, stated that he is reliably informed that the judge during his student days “was officially attached to Akuafo Hall but was at all material times during his studentship in the University of Ghana, resident at Commonwealth, definition of a Vandal”.

“I am further informed that Justice Obiri was the lead assistant of the then Chief Vandal, a very revered office of Vandals, by the alias Chief Korea. The impartiality of Justice Obiri in these matters in which Vandals are deeply invested cannot be assured.”
Prof Gordon Awandare

Controversy surrounding UG’s Commonwealth hall residency

Prof Awandare noted that this situation has the tendency to affect the nature of the proceeding for which reason he wants the Judge restrained from the case citing an instance from the February 9 hearing. He stated the decision not to consider the Application for leave to cross-examine Lawrence Edinam Egleh, the deponent of the Affidavit in Support of the Application for Injunction before considering and granting the application on the basis of the impugned affidavit.

“Moreso, when the Applicant had prayed the Court to abridge time or even take the application orally in keeping with the decisions of this Court. The Applicant did not have any other avenue to make the Application as the Application for injunction was not formally moved so that the Applicant would have made an application to cross-examine the deponent.”
Prof Gordon Awandare

Prior to this, the first Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, directed the Education Committee of Parliament to investigate the University of Ghana for disregarding an Accra High Court order to stop implementing a new residential policy. This followed a statement made on the floor of Parliament by the MP for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee, Dr. Clement Apaak, who condemned the new residential policy of the university and called on the University to respect the court orders.

It will be recalled that in January this year, an Accra High Court ordered the management of the University of Ghana to refrain from revoking the residential status of continuing students in both Commonwealth and Mensah Sarbah halls.

The decision of the court was issued after some disgruntled students filed an interlocutory injunction on January 6, 2023. The university’s administration issued an order intending to remove all continuing male students from the halls due to a violent altercation that had taken place between the two parties on August 15, 2022.

According to the university’s management, they chose to implement the directive as a disciplinary step after fights between certain students from the two halls resulted in the destruction of John Mensah Sarbah’s statue, which was located at the Mensah Sarbah hall.

Per the administration’s announcement to the members of the university, starting from the 2022/2023 academic year, “Level 100 and graduate students (Masters and PhD level) will be assigned to Mensah Sarbah and Commonwealth Halls”. However, in accordance with the court’s judgment from January 6, the current residential arrangement of students must be maintained as it was before UG’s directive on October 26, 2022.