In a significant legal development, the Court of Appeal in Kumasi has overturned a directive by the Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, ordering a professor, Prof. Rexford Assasie Oppong, to apologize to his colleagues. The court's decision, handed down on August 13, 2024, was a response to Prof. Oppong's appeal against the university's Registrar, who had conveyed the Vice-Chancellor's directives based on the findings of a fact-finding committee. The committee was established in March 2023 to investigate allegations of harassment and insubordination made against Prof. Oppong by two colleagues, Prof. Daniel Yaw Addai Duah and Dr. Alexander Boakye Marful. However, the court ruled that the Vice-Chancellor's directive to apologize amounted to a disciplinary sanction imposed without following the university's due process and disciplinary procedures. This ruling has significant implications for academic governance and the balance of power within universities, raising questions about the boundaries of administrative authority and the importance of due process in disciplinary matters.
