By Ragan M. Conteh
In a letter addressed to the Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone by the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, the University Court of Sierra Leone has been dissolved with immediate effect following the leadership crisis that seemed to have lately crippled the University administration.
The move came in the aftermath of the Tertiary Education Commission’s advice to the Minister to dissolve USL’s Court and to establish an Oversight Committee to manage the affairs of the University.
It could be recalled that, the Tertiary Education Committee, in a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday 30th January 2024 said that, the University of Sierra Leone (USL) is currently in leadership “battle for supremacy”.
It was vividly clear that the Committee and the Ministry of Tertiary Education had attempted to settle USL’s leadership dispute but said the administrative of USL was not pleased over the imposition on them of someone outside their three constituent colleges.
What is more heartrending, the Administration of USL had observed, was that Professor Lawrence Kamara, whom the Ministry of Tertiary Education, had earlier appointed as Vice Chancellor of the University had not been working in any of the three constituent colleges, adding that he is above work- age limit as stipulated in the University Act.
The University of Sierra Leone authorities have stated that the University Act is clear about the election of the Pro-chancellor and Chancellor of the University, adding that for the Tertiary Ministry to select who should constitute USL’s leadership is a bad precedent.