Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr Ramatulai Wurie has stepped outside her powers by imposing a Vice Chancellor and Principal at the University of Sierra Leone. The Minister’s action has caused disgruntlement among most university lecturers who see the action as one of contempt.
At the moment, Dr Wurie cannot be reached by this press to get her own side of the story. It is alleged that the education minister, On 11th December, 2023, appointed Professor Lawrence Kamara Acting Vice Chancellor and Principal (VC&P) of the University of Sierra Leone contrary to sections 8(2), (5) and 9(1) of the Universities Act, 2021.
Section 8(2) states that “a Vice Chancellor and Principal…shall be appointed by the Chancellor on the advice of the Minister on such terms and conditions as the court may determine.”
The advice, the law states, shall be based on the recommendations of a joint search committee of the court and the commission. It is also clear that where the office of the Vice Chancellor and Principal is vacant or if for any reason, he is unable to perform the duties of his office, the Pro-Vice Chancellor shall perform the duties of the Vice Chancellor and Principal until the substantive resumes his duties or another appointed in his stead.
Section 9(1) of the University also shall have a Pro-Vice Chancellor who shall be appointed by the court from among Deputy Vice Chancellors of Fourah Bay College, Institute of Public Administration and Management and College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor appointed under subsection (1) shall hold office for a term of 3 years and shall be reappointed for a further term of 2 years only.
The Minister flouts all these provisions of the Universities Act by forcefully and illegally appointing Professor Kamara Vice Chancellor and Principal of the university.
The Act is also very clear in Section 8(5) that in the absence of the substantive Vice Chancellor and Principal, a Pro-Vice Chancellor provided for in section 14(2)(b) performs that function.
According to the Act, the Acting VC&P should hold no post in the university since age is no more on his side; He has gone past the retirement age of 65, and the Minister of Higher and Technical Education has no power to appoint a new VC&P.
That power lies within the purview of the Chancellor of USL who is also Chairman of the USL Court, the highest administrative and decision-making body of the university. It is also safe to state that the minister acted ultravires (beyond her powers).
It is also important to note that there is a sitting a Pro-Vice Chancellor who, by law, should act in the absence of a substantive VC&P until the USL Court and Tertiary Education Commission put together a search committee for the appointment of a new VC&P.
A credible source at USL has told this press that Kmara’s appointment was not renewed in 2022 after 15 out the 20 USL court members present in the meeting voted against him on the grounds of his age and incompetence.
Until he was appointed Acting VC$P, Professor Kamara was a lecturer in the Department of Statistics at FBC, a position he can serve till age 70. Universities all over the world are governed by laws which must be respected by education authorities.