Commentary
By Elkass Sannoh, Freetown, Sierra Leone
A topical issue in the public domain is the payment of fees or grant-in-aid for students of the Malaysian University Limkokwing, named after Dr. Sri Paduka Lim Kok Wing, brought in by the former All People’s Congress (APC) Minister of Education, Science and Technology-Dr. Minkhailu Bah.
A lot of misinformation have been peddled either to politically dent the New Direction administration or to use the innocent students as political baits to obstruct the peace and security of the state. The reality is, there are three sides to a story: Your Side, My Side and The Truth.
The Truth
The sacred truth is, the Limkokwing University administration went into a fraudulent deal with the former APC led Government which was why the establishment of the private university wasn’t ratified by Parliament as law required. They even didn’t seek Cabinet approval.
The Limkokwing University management only signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) without a properly defined agreement and severability clause, at the expense of the country’s ailing economy.
The truth is, Sierra Leonean students are paying the highest amount compared to other campuses across the 150 countries.
The truth is, each student pursuing a Degree course is paying 3000 United States Dollars and 500 United States Dollars is reportedly transferred to Dr. Minkhailu Bah and his team as their own share/s. Similarly, a Diploma student currently pays 2,500 United States Dollars and only 2000 United States Dollars as the actual money paid to the University and the remaining 500 United States Dollars reportedly transferred to Dr. Bah and team. Just calculate 1000 United States Dollars by 1,200 students and tell me your total. This is a huge wastage!
Another truth is, Dr. Bah was/is still being paid as a Consultant for Limkokwing University.
The final truth is, the APC left a debt of 14 Billion Leones that has already been paid by the New Direction administration.
Political Machinery
The Limkokwing University was used as a political machine by the APC to woo young voters and their parents.
I could remember when Dr. Bah was exclusively speaking to Abdulrahman Kamara of Star Television at his New England Ville office, he cited the Limkokwing University as one brought by the APC Government with no financial burden (learn freely) on parents.
"We have brought in Limkokwing University and we intend to do more," said Dr. Bah.
In fact one of the campaign messages of the APC was that many more free universities are on the way to be established across the country.
A recent headline ran by Sierra Newspaper says:
"Limkokwing Students In Turmoil." The Reporter went on to say that, "Inspite of the bogus promises made in the run up to the March, 2018 multi-tier elections to prioritize education in the country when elected in office, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) government led by President Maada Bio, as a follow up to its promise, is now set to destroy the future of over one thousand (1,000) Sierra Leonean students from the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology as a result of the government’s continued dragging of feet to settle its financial obligations to the university." Unfortunately, this writer didn’t tell us that the said debt was incurred by his APC Party.
The aforementioned report has alluded to the fact that the Limkokwing University has become a political commodity for the main opposition APC Party.
According to former President Koroma, Limkokwing will be known as "Sierra Leone’s National University of Transformation."
COI’s Justice Biobele
At the Commission of Inquiry, Justice Biobele Georgewill on Monday August 19, 2019, criticized the Limkokwing University for charging Sierra Leonean students unfairly high tuition fees compared to the other campuses.
He was making his submission over payment of grant-in-aid for students between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Limkokwing University administration, which was brought to the Commission of Inquiry for investigation.
He added that charging Sierra Leonean students 3000 United States Dollars for Degree courses with virtually every government support is unfair to the people of Sierra Leone.
Justice Biobele also questioned why the University would charge foundation fees the same as Degree fees which he said should be different.
“I am for Limkokwing University. I like education; I like development, but at what cost?” he questioned, and added that “you must determine a reasonable thing for the people of Sierra Leone particularly for what the government has done for your institution.”
The Judge was of the view that the fees must be reviewed, noting that the Government has provided building facility and granted tax waver for the Limkokwing University to operate freely during the establishment of the institution.
The head of the Limkokwing University, Sierra Leone Campus, Agness Muthoni Mugo explained how the university fee came about, and the quality of service they are providing.
She said they took note of the investment on the ground in developing the campus even before 2016. She said they erected a structure of ten lecture rooms, a library and five multimedia labs which are fully equipped with computers, and built studios for architectures and design students.
She said that the nature of their courses are expensive and the institution was unable to get local staff to offer some of the courses and had to hire foreign lecturers to offer some of their courses. She submitted that they currently have 57 lecturers including 21 foreign lecturers.
She said that the institution is currently reviewing its fees, emphasising they have reduced the university fess for private students by 50 percent, and they are also reviewing the fees for students on government scholarship.
"The unanswered question is, did they do so to allow the current Government offset the APC debt?" "A big No."
Operation in Sierra Leone
Established in 2016 and officially opened by former President Ernest Bai Koroma on 17 March 2017, the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology admitted 1,200 students as the first batch but the number got reduced as some didn’t continue the course. That beside, all of them got Government grants to pursue their courses for four academic years.
The second batch, 500 students, also got the same grant-in-aid.
New Direction Government
The ruling SLPP led Government has requested for a review of the said dubious contract and also agreed to pay for the first batch students.
The Government also paid 14 Billion Leones and an additional 7 Billion Leones debt left by APC Government.
The Government refused to pay for all students given the grant in aid because the amount is very colossal and wickedly exploitative at the advantage of few people who went into the arrangement.
The Government also refused further payment because the University administration has prepared additional list that was not part of the previous arrangement of payment plan.
The Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Prof. Aiah Gbakima asked them to justify the list and up till now they have not responded and didn’t even tell the students that Government has paid a dime for them to continue.
Politics of deceit
The students (APC beneficiaries) have recruited Thomas Moore Conteh, a known advocate of the APC, to join them disrupt the peace of the country in disguise to stage a peaceful protest. The students must resist such ploy and move away from deceitful politicians.
Also, the Executive Director of Legal Link, Lawyer Rashid Dumbuya has been a strong member of the APC even when he served as Information Minister at Fourah Bay College during the tenure of Alhaji Abu Komeh.
Rashid and his counterpart are demanding that the police allow the students to protest.
CAN issued a press release citing the relevant clause to convince the police for today’s protest. This has made their action to be politically motivated because most of these students got the scholarship under the APC ticket and therefore are in political mood.
Today’s protest
The students should not politicise their future to satisfy the wicked ambition of some rogue politicians. The students leadership should continue to dialogue with the ruling Government and ask relevant questions to the Limkokwing University administration instead of stage an illegal protest.
Many are now asking why Thomas Moore lured our students to breach the peace and undermine the constitution of the land?
To demonstrate magnanimity, the Minister (Prof. Gbakima) yesterday through the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Cooper, has summoned a meeting slated for Tuesday, 10th March 2020 with the Limkokwing University administration. Sadly, the politicization of their concern has made it politically motivated by staging today’s protest in contravention with Act No. 6 of the 1991 Constitution.
The students should know that President Julius Maada Bio values education because he believes that education is a major contributor to the country’s human development with both intrinsic and extrinsic values. That doesn’t in any way mean the President will condone fraudulent agreement, yet he recognises the challenges confronting the Limkokwing University students.
They are Sierra Leoneans, which is why frantic efforts are being made to address the problem in line with the New Direction People’s Manifesto.
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