Dr Alieu Gibba a senior lecturer at the School of Business and Public Administration, University of The Gambia (UTG) has been summoned to the hearing of the Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday, 28th August 2024, LamToro News has learnt.
Dr Gibba has been summoned with respect to his letter dated 17th July 2024, in which he was said to have given an unsatisfactory explanation to the Governing Council’s letter of 15th July 2024 titiled: re:“UTG Senior Staff Complaints of Delayed Promotions and Allegations of Injustice Against Allegations of Gambian Academic Staff at the University of The Gambia”.
The UTG letter, written by Bobo Baldeh, Actig Registrar of the UTG and dated 23rd August 2024, requested Dr Gibba to appear before the Disciplinary Committee on 28th August 2024 at 1pm at the Conference Hall, Peace Building Campus along MDI Road in Kanifing , for investigation into the allegations of delayed promotions, injustice, etc.
The UTG Registrar also urged Dr Gibba to give evidence of his allegations against the UTG Management.
However, LamToro News contacted Dr Ensa Touray, president of the UTG Staff Association for his reaction to this development and this is he said.
“The summon of Dr Gibba and Associate Professor Mattarr Njie is uncalled for. What we expected from the Vice Chancellor of the UTG is to respond to the demands of the staff by releasing the promotion inorder to percify the UTG Faculties and Staff. This is what can stabilize the situation. The actions of the VC are purely meant to intimidate the Lecturers.”
Dr Touray also appealed to the Gambia Government for their timely intervention to regulate the governance of the university in order to avert the continuos tension between the university faculties and the management.
“The continuous tension is portraying the bad image of the government. The weaking structures of governance in university could be a potential threat to peace and stability. I am appealing for government to intervene to assess the current state of governance at the university,” he added.
The UTG Staff Association President Dr Ensa Touray, said the UTG Act requires for the staff to etsablish a union to represent UTG Staff at every level.
He disclosed that the UTG Staff Association was since 2021 squashed off in the UTG Senate whilst the Students’ Union is represented and the Governing Council.
This, he went on, continued to happen under Professor Herbert Robertson the Vice Chancellor eventhough he found the situation in place.
“In 2021, we went for industrial resolution where UTG management was tasked to implement certain tasks including the restructuring of the UTG Governing Council which was headed by Mathew Ndure. The Higher Education Ministry was tasked to dissolve the council , restructure with new members but to our surprise, the same Mathew Ndure was brought again. We all know that the UTG Council was not functioning well in 2021 under Mathew Ndure,” he complained.
Dr Touray also recalled that the UTG Lecturers were asked to apply for promotion to different academic rankings, adding that he (Dr Touray ) and Dr Alieu Gibba applied to be an Associate Professor.
“According to the UTG policy, applications for promotions is normally done in May and we all applied since the beginning of May 2023. Also, the promotions committee should complete their task before October of the same year and by October they should release the list of those promoted. However, the Vice Chancellor went through all the promotions individually from October last year up to date but he failed to release the promotion. Those staff who are affected by the delayed promotion came together and wrote to the VC and asked him to expedite the release of the promotions. He responded by saying he is going through the promotions to ensure that it is compliance with the conditions of service. It has never been a tradition for promotion to be delayed for more than one year at the UTG,” he further revealed.
Readers would recall that Dr. Gibba and Associate Professor Matarr Njie, sometime in June 2024, made publication in the media about delayed promotions and allegations of injustice against Gambia Academic Lecturers by the UTG Management. The UTG Management is now requesting for them to justify their action.
Efforts to reach Dr Alieu Gibba proved futile.
