FOUR PROFESSORS SUE TO HALT GIMPA RECTOR SEARCH PROCESS AMID CONTROVERSY

Four professors at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt aspects of the process to select a search committee for the appointment of a new Rector, escalating tensions over the institution’s leadership transition.

The plaintiffs are Professors Lord Mawuko Yevugah, Wisdom Akpalu, Kwami Adanu and Patrick Tandoh-Offin. They filed the action on October 5, 2026, challenging aspects of the process involving the Chairman of GIMPA’s Governing Council, the Institute’s Secretary and the Rector.

At the centre of the dispute is the Convocation register used to determine who could vote for representatives on the Rector Search Committee. The professors contend that about 30 newly appointed or promoted lecturers were included on the register despite questions over whether their appointments had received the necessary approval from the Governing Council.

They argue that allowing the lecturers to participate in the election could undermine the legitimacy of the process and have asked the court to ensure that the selection of the search committee complies with GIMPA’s 2020 Statutes. They also want the committee’s composition and the respective roles of the Governing Council and Convocation clarified.

GIMPA management, however, has indicated that a special ad hoc committee audited the Convocation register and confirmed that those listed had valid appointments, based on Human Resource Management records. Exceptions reportedly applied to staff on leave of absence or secondment.

The Convocation election proceeded on October 6. According to reports, Professor Patrick Tandoh-Offin contested to represent the professorial class but lost to Professor Emmanuel Gyamfi Numapau, who received 118 votes against Tandoh-Offin’s 35.

The legal challenge comes as GIMPA prepares for the end of Rector Professor Samuel Kwaku Bonsu’s tenure in August 2027. The Institute’s statutes require the search process to begin ahead of the incumbent’s departure.

The case raises questions about voting eligibility, institutional governance and the procedures for selecting the next Rector. The court’s determination could affect the process, although the available reports do not establish that an injunction has been granted or that the election