A visually impaired Ph.D. applicant in Ghana named Isaac Anin Baah has filed a lawsuit towards the Kwame Nkrumah College of Science and Expertise (KNUST), one of many nation’s premier greater academic establishments primarily based in Kumasi, after his admission was unexpectedly revoked. Mr. Baah is represented by Mr. Carruthers Tetteh, a lawyer who is also visually impaired. The case, presently earlier than the Excessive Court docket of Kumasi, alleges negligence and discrimination on the premise of incapacity.
The lawsuit, initiated on September 3, 2024, particulars that Mr. Baah utilized to KNUST’s College of Public Well being and was initially scheduled for an interview in December 2023. Nevertheless, a month earlier than the interview, he was abruptly instructed to not attend, with no clarification supplied. Regardless of this, Mr. Baah obtained an official admission letter later that month, which he accepted. Shortly thereafter, KNUST knowledgeable him that the admission was issued in error and was due to this fact invalid.
Mr. Baah contends that KNUST’s actions violate Ghana’s Persons withDisabilities Act, 2006 (Act 715), in addition to worldwide requirements on inclusive schooling, such because the Salamanca Statement, to which Ghana is a signatory. He argues that the college’s actions quantity to a failure in due diligence and discrimination primarily based on his incapacity. The lawsuit seeks declarations of negligence and calls for compensation for emotional misery and lack of scholarship alternatives brought on by the college’s conduct.
In an unique interview with JURIST, Mr. Tetteh defined, “Mr. Baah approached me after trying to hunt explanations from the Dean of Public Well being, who declined to supply any causes for the cancellation of the interview or the revocation of the admission. I wrote to the varsity requesting the grounds for his or her resolution. After two months and not using a response, I adopted up with one other letter, however nonetheless obtained no reply. We had no possibility however to go to courtroom.”
Mr. Tetteh additional acknowledged, “If you go to the college’s web site, Mr. Baah’s title seems on the record of admitted college students for this educational 12 months. He continues to obtain messages from the varsity, together with a current one relating to an evaluation he wants to finish. We consider he was correctly admitted, however for some egocentric or malicious cause, it was wrongly claimed that his admission was an error. After submitting the lawsuit, the college responded, providing to reinstate his admission if we might drop the case. Nevertheless, we’re not contemplating this supply. We wish the courtroom to find out the matter, as we consider this may set a precedent not just for educational establishments but in addition for employment, well being, and different services. We’re assured that justice shall be served.”
For my part, this case may have important implications for a way academic establishments in Ghana deal with the rights of scholars with disabilities. The interpretation of Article 17 of the 1992 Structure of Ghana, which enshrines equality as a elementary human proper, is central to this problem. In keeping with the place of the Ghanaian Supreme Court docket in Nartey v. Gati [2010] SCGLR 745, discrimination can solely be thought-about lawful when the explanations are justifiable and don’t irreconcilably battle with constitutional rules.
An identical precept was reaffirmed in Asare v. Legal professional Basic [2012] 2 SCGLR 460, the place the Supreme Court docket emphasised that discrimination is lawful solely whether it is justified by causes that don’t battle with the Structure’s letter and spirit. That is significantly related underneath Article 29(4) of the 1992 Structure, which clarifies that incapacity can’t be grounds for treating disabled individuals otherwise from others until such remedy is justified. Due to this fact, disabled and non-disabled people have to be handled equally underneath the regulation.
As an administrative physique, the college should be certain that its procedures are truthful and that they respect and uphold the basic rights of all people. Failure to supply truthful remedy to all candidates may represent a breach of Article 17 and Article 29(4) of the Structure.
It’s significantly regarding that the college initially sought to quiet the applicant by providing him admission after the lawsuit was filed. I’m humbled by the plaintiff and his authorized staff, who’re trying past their speedy circumstances. The challenges of navigating the tutorial ladder in a nation that’s nonetheless grappling with offering elementary social facilities—not to mention overcoming societal stigma—are immense. I eagerly anticipate reporting on how this case unfolds for our viewers.
Opinions expressed in JURIST Dispatches are solely these of our correspondents within the subject and don’t essentially replicate the views of JURIST’s editors, employees, donors or the College of Pittsburgh.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
