Court orders reinstatement of assistant headmaster

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 24, 2011
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court yesterday ordered the reinstatement of the Assistant Headmaster of the Odorgonno Senior High School to his position at the school.
Mr Lawrence Kwasi Korley was interdicted in August, this year, for allegedly raping Miss Artisi Windoman, an American volunteer at the school. The victim left the country after reporting the matter to the police.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Essel Mensah, described as wrongful and illegal the purported interdiction of Mr Korley by the Ghana Education Service (GES) when he (Mr Korley) was not given a hearing before his interdiction.
It also asked that all the emoluments the applicant lost while on interdiction be paid to him.
Although the applicant sought GH¢5 million in damages, the court granted the applicant GH¢4,000.
Mr Korley, who was represented by Mr Kay Amoah Jnr, sought a declaration of the court that the letter of interdiction by the GES was wrong and illegal.
It was the case of the applicant that his employers, the GES, interdicted him without any shred of evidence for an allegation of rape.
It was also argued that procedurally, the GES erred by interdicting Mr Korley when he was not given a hearing.
The applicant contended that by the Collective Agreement (CA) as epitomised in the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, Mr Korley should have been given a hearing.
Moreover, counsel for Mr Korley argued that his client had neither been charged with any criminal offence nor faced any criminal trial, on which the GES could have based its action to interdict him.
The GES, which was represented by Mr Anthony Boateng, had, in their defence, argued that the interdiction was not punitive but done to safeguard the image of the GES and the country.
It said the GES did not want to create the impression to Ghanaians and the international community that female students and members of staff were unsafe in the midst of male teachers or members of staff.
But, the court in its ruling, upheld the arguments of the applicant, saying that whatever good intention the GES had, it did not follow its own procedural requirements before the interdiction of Mr Korley.