The University of Ghana Committee, which was tasked with reviewing the contentious Africa Integras Concession Agreement, has vehemently disagreed with some remarks made by the university’s former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey.
Throughout his time, post-vice-chancellor, Prof. Aryeetey has not been silent regarding the erroneous allegations of impropriety in the project.
He has insisted that any allegations of wrongdoing on his part in the Africa Integras deal are “not grounded on facts,” and he has accused some members of the University of Ghana management of misrepresenting and disseminating false information about the deal in an effort to damage his reputation and legacy.
The former Vice Chancellor sought to clarify the defamation lawsuit brought against Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, his immediate successor, in a recent article titled “I Have Found Justice.”
“In the end, the judge agreed with everything that we said and proved in court. I thank God for ensuring that the truth prevailed in the end. The court awarded me GHS 300,000 as damages, including aggravated damages. I thank the court for that, and I intend to donate the entirety of the award to charity. I wish Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu well. I also pray that people who assume any office in Ghana in the future will not see it as an opportunity to harass or persecute their supposed or perceived enemies. I never saw myself as an enemy or opponent of my successor. I still do not understand what I did to deserve what I have been through. Maybe, one day”, portions of Prof. Aryeetey’s post read.
The Committee, however, specifically stated in a letter purportedly intended to clear up any confusion that “Prof. Aryeetey’s efforts to convert his victory in a defamation suit into a wholesale vindication of his handling of the Agreement and the Project and an indictment of the Committee cannot stand in the face of the facts of the matter.”
It said, since Prof. Aryeetey gave the impression that the court judgement in the defamation suit was a vindication of his handling of the Africa Integras Project and an indictment of the Committee’s work, “the Committee thought it prudent to delay a response until it had received and studied a copy of the judgement”.
The project was supposed to include a complex for the College of Education, a new building complex for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, an expanded facility for the College of Humanities, a complex to house the Institute of Technology and Applied Science, and a building for the College of Health Sciences to help the University relocate the medical school to the UG campus. It was put on hold years ago after a dispute between the school and the contractor.
The University was forced to pay the contractor $160 million after losing a legal dispute in a London arbitration court in August 2018, valued at $64 million.
The Project has been plagued by an endless legal battle, raising serious concerns about its completion.
However, the University of Ghana’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Gordon Awandare, assured in a Citi News interview that the University was working with the Government to see the project through, despite the difficulties.
“We are confident that the evidence we have offered, although limited in scope and purpose, will enable the public to draw their own informed conclusions about Prof. Aryeetey’s claims”, the committee concluded.
Click here to read the UG Committee’s full response.
