Dambai College of Education In Focus: A Teacher Fired for Selling Pamphlet?

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ccra Commercial Court, will on June 13, 2017, will hear a case  which Mr. Sampson Kofi Totime, a former tutor of the college has accused Mr. Musah Yamba Issahako, Principal of Dambai College of Education for illegally dismissing him for allegedly selling pamphlets to students of the school. The Principal has since denied the allegation of illegal dismissal.

The “Awake Investigate” team found from its preliminary investigations in Dambai College that Mr. Totime had a misunderstanding with the [ads1]Principal of the College, Mr. Yamba Issahako an alleged sale of pamphlets to students in March 2012 without permission from the principal.

Sources alleged that Mr. Yamba Issahako took serious offense at the conduct of Mr. Totime for not seeking permission from him before selling the pamphlets, to which Mr. Totime put a stop to further sales of the pamphlets. Thereafter, Mr. Yakubu Issahako constituted a committee to preside over any future sales of pamphlets in the college.

Awake Investigates found that before the sale of pamphlets by Mr. Totime, there was no directive or law in the college barring tutors from selling their compiled lecture notes to students.

According to sources, Mr. Yamba Issahako had allegedly announced at one staff meeting that he was no longer going to work with Mr. Totime, adding that Mr. Totime had been given an “open release”.

An “open release” by the Principal of a College, means, that a tutor has to go and look for another school, meaning the tutor had been sacked from the college. An Open Release requires approval from by an oversight body of a school and at the time this issue broke out, colleges of education in Ghana were moving from the structures of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to National Council for Tertiary Education. However, it has been alleged that the interim governing council of the school was not informed about the matter.

Mr. Totime who was not happy with the “open Release” actions ought the intervention of a legal practitioner who wrote to the principal about the alleged illegal dismissal.

According to sources, Mr. Yamba Issahako then referred the matter to the council for which the council allegedly directed that the tutor is called back to the classroom.

However, sources say, the principal barred the teacher from entering any classroom. The council chairman at the time then intervened again directing the principal to let the tutor teach until the substance of the case is heard pursuant to the formation of a committee by the council.

During the committee sitting, the principal allegedly leveled several other allegations including alleged stealing of fowls by Mr. Totime, allegedly impregnating a student without taking responsibility, and allegedly taking money from students with the promise of admissions, among other allegations.

The committee, during its investigation, established the sale of pamphlets allegation but all the other allegations were not ascertained. However, the committee recommended that for peace to prevail, Mr. Totime should be given six months to look for a new school.

According to sources, the very day the College council committee report was received by Mr. Yamba Issahako, Mr. Totime was allegedly handed over a letter that stating that according to the committee report, he (Mr. Totime) had been released by the Volta Regional Director of GES for re-posting. On the following day, the principal also allegedly wrote to Mr. Totime that he had been relieved of his duty from the college and that he should hand over all documents in his possession.

Following this development, Mr. Totime then sent the case to a High Court in Ho in 2012. The case is now at the Industrial and Labour  Court (Commercial Court 10) in Accra.

When “Awake Investigates” contacted both Mr. Yamba Issahako and Mr. Totime for an interview, they both noted that the case is currently in court and therefore declined comment on the issue.

It was understood that the court had given an interim order in 2014 holding that Mr. Totime should be temporarily posted to another school pending the final ruling by the court.

“Awake Investigate” will be in court to bring readers every detail of the case.

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Awake Investigates, is a team of investigative journalists working to expose all forms of corruption and injustice in all sectors in Ghana.

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