Confusion erupts in interview room as Bolgatanga Technical University invites unqualified staff for promotion

Some weeks ago, the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU) published a call, asking its staff to submit applications for appointments to a number of positions.

Among the staff who responded to the call was Solomon Awariya. He applied for employment as a deputy director of finance.

A member of the university’s finance directorate, Awariya had been promoted to the rank of a senior accountant on Tuesday, 10 January 2023. That was 18 months ago.

It is clearly stated in the Scheme of Service for Staff of Technical Universities in Ghana that before a senior accountant is appointed as a deputy director of finance, the applicant must have served “as a senior accountant in a university or a comparable grade in a similar institution/organisation for at least six years”.

Going by this clause, Awariya must wait until Wednesday, 10 January 2029, to be suitably qualified for that position, because he must have at that point fully served the required 6 years in his current capacity.

But despite lacking the requisite qualification for the advertised position, Awariya filled out an application form for the rank and submitted it for consideration.

Subsequently, the head of the university’s human resource directorate, Joana Rita Tembil, appended her signature on behalf of the registrar to a letter addressed to the senior accountant.

Dated 4th July, 2024, the letter referenced the senior accountant’s application and invited him to attend an interview for the sought-after appointment on Friday, 12 July 2024.

The letter also asked him to carry along “original copies of his certificates, transcripts and any other relevant document” for the interview.

“You may also come along with reports from your referees or send them to us later,” the letter added in the closing paragraphs.

Copies of that letter were forwarded to four authorities of the university. The authorities include: the chairman of the appointment and promotions board, the registrar, the director of finance and the director of internal audit.

The interview would take place inside the chamber of the governing council, which is on the library block of the university’s main campus, not too far from the site of a state-forsaken airport project at Sumbrungu.

When the interview day arrived, two of the members on the interview panel strongly objected to the invitation and attendance of the senior accountant after reviewing his qualification documents.

The duo vehemently said he was not qualified for the preferred position— the rank of a deputy director of finance— and openly excluded themselves from interviewing him and awarding him scores.

They stressed that inviting the senior accountant and engaging him in that interview contravened the Scheme of Service for Staff of Technical Universities.

Despite the objection raised, the other members of the panel welcomed the senior accountant, conducted the interview with him and awarded him marks.

The full interview panel (including the two members who disagreed) comprised: the vice-chancellor, Prof. Samuel Erasmus Alnaa; the pro vice chancellor, Prof. Peter Osei Boamah; the registrar, Zangu-Rana Ibrahim Daniel Yakubu; and the librarian, Prof. Daniel Azerikatoa Ayoung.

The others are: the dean of the school of agriculture, Prof. Daniel Oppong-Sekyere; the dean of students, Prof. Joseph Laare; the director of internal audit, Lucy Afelik; and the head of the human resource directorate, who also served as a secretary on the panel, Joana Rita Tembil.

Media Without Borders placed a telephone call to every member of the interview panel as well as the senior accountant on Monday, 15 July 2024, for their comments on this matter.

The first telephone call went to the vice chancellor. In response, he said the university had not breached any law.

“Whatever is happening is not in breach of any law,” he remarked. “The university has a council which will handle it. So, just allow it.”

The registrar declined to comment “because a decision has not been taken”. He said he would be “in a good position to comment” only after a decision had been taken.

On his part, the librarian said he would not speak to the matter because the governing council’s sub-committee, which conducted the interview, had not authorised him to do so.

Next on the telephone line was the dean of students who strictly opted for a face-to-face conversation, a request impossible to meet for distance-related reasons.

“I was called to interview some individuals,” he said. “Unless I meet you personally, I can’t discuss anything on the phone.”

When this media outlet shifted attention to the head of the human resource directorate, she parried the question to the registrar.

“Please, can you call the registrar on this issue? I work under the registrar. Our directorate is directly under the registrar. I have no right to speak to this issue,” she stated.

Asked further why she, as a human resource expert, gave her blessing to an employee seeking a position for which he did not qualify, she said she only signed the letter on behalf of the registrar.

“Whatever letter I signed, I signed for the registrar, and it is not right for me to speak on such an issue when the registrar is around. So, just call the registrar,” she said.

The pro vice chancellor responded similarly. He asked the author of this story to speak to someone else on the matter.

“I would advise that you talk to the vice chancellor or the registrar,” he replied.

The dean of the school of agriculture was called twice by this author. He did not answer the calls. The senior accountant was called likewise. He, too, did not respond.

They did not return the calls and never replied to the messages sent to them via WhatsApp before press time.

The telephone conversation Media Without Borders had with the head of internal audit revealed more.

Lucy Afelik said she objected to the interview invitation extended to the senior accountant and divulged her plans to lodge a case with the university’s governing council on the matter.

“The interview came off on the 12th, and there was confusion there. Some of us did not agree. Some even abstained from the interview [because it breached the scheme]. But others sat through.

“I wasn’t there as an internal auditor. I was there as an external assessor. At the moment, I’m trying to deal with my issue through the governing council. I want to make a case with the governing council,” said the head of the internal audit.

Some external observers believe the controversial involvement of the senior accountant in the interview was deliberately hatched to serve “the selfish targets” of some people at the university.

Those observers have been heard saying they will initiate a court action and are prepared to travel any legal distance “to preserve and protect” the scheme of service should the chairman of the governing council, Prof. Francis Atindaana Abantanga, sign any letter appointing the senior accountant as a deputy director of finance.

The council is scheduled to meet this Friday, 19 July 2024, on the controversy.

Source:mwbonline.org