The president of the Ghana Society of Oxford Union, Papa Kojo Botsio has said the resignation of the president of the Oxford Union, Brendan McGrath is an important milestone in the abuse case of a visually impaired Ghanaian student, Ebenezer Azameti.
On October 17, 2019 Ebenezer Azameti was dragged by the ankle out of a hall where a debate was about taking place.
The Union has subsequently been hit with many Executive level resignations.
Speaking to Citi News, Papa Kojo Botsio said even though the president has resigned, a few more other demands must be met to curtail any future occurrences.
“He wrote in his resignation letter that he apologizes to him but I think there are a few more things that we need to deal with. Right now we are trying to follow up to make sure that they make the necessary reforms so that this does not happen again to anybody. We are yet to see what they will do to their staff members who assaulted Mr. Azamati and whether they will actually go ahead and offer some kind of compensation to Mr. Azamati because this has affected him quite a bit because I can he is a student like all of us and he had to deal with this issue since the 17th of October”.
The president of Oxford Union earlier today, November 20, 2019, resigned over a row involving a blind student who was “violently” removed from a society debate.
Ebenezer Azamati was “accosted” by a security guard when he tried to return to a seat he had earlier reserved before the discussion on 17 October.
On Saturday, he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
President of the society Brendan McGrath apologised for his “mistakes” and resigned.
Postgraduate student Mr. Azamati, from Ghana, said his treatment made him feel “unwelcome in the union, Oxford and even the country”.
After the charges against Mr. Azamati were successfully appealed, Mr. McGrath apologised to the Africa Society “for the distress and any reputational damage” to the student.
Helen Mountfield QC, representing Mr. Azamati, had said there were ongoing talks with the union over what steps it could take to address the “failings” exposed by the case.
In a letter to the standing committee, posted on Oxford Union’s Facebook page, Mr. McGrath said: “For all my shortcomings, and all of my mistakes, I apologise profusely and unqualifiedly.”
Mr. Azamati, a visually impaired Ghanaian student suffered in the hands of the security officers at the Oxford Union after he was allegedly dragged out of a debate hall with excessive force.
The MPhil in International Relations student at St John’s College, Ebenezer Azamati was allegedly abused and meted with the unfair treatment because he arrived at the premises before the commencement of the debate.
His union card was also allegedly taken from him.
