Dear Editor,
Please permit me to respond to Freddie Kissoon’s letter of January 12, captioned ‘UG Council had never before fired an academic on its own,’ in which he states, “Prior to my contract termination by the Council of the University, there has never been a single instance where the council since the birth of the university in 1963 fired an academic without a request for such coming from the academic/administrative organs of the university.”
Firstly, congratulations to Mr Kissoon for this vindication of what he stated all along, namely, that his ouster from UG was illegal.
He was right. I have seen elsewhere Mr Kissoon state that he does not expect UG to compensate him, I believe strongly that the institution should, in the spirit of the dictum in R v Sussex Justices ex p McCarty, that “Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”
Secondly, for historical accuracy I humbly submit that the termination of Mr Kissoon’s employment, contrary to what he has stated, may not have been the first instance of an academic whose employment was brought to an end by the council “without a request for such coming from the academic/administrative organs of the university.” UG’s Council has been too long at the behest of the political directorate of this and the previous administration. This must change.
In July 1973 the University’s Board of Governors decided not to renew the contract of a sociology lecturer, Mohamed Insanally. The headline in the Sunday Graphic read, “Insanally fired from university.” The Faculty Board and Staff Association objected to the decision.
Insanally believed that he was fired because he was a leading figure in the then Guyana National Liberation Front and a strong critic of the government.
He was not given an opportunity to respond to the charges against him by the Board and no substantial evidence was presented to the Board. Additionally, the Appointment Commit-tee, headed by the Vice Chancellor (Dr Denis Irvine) had recommended that Insanally should be employed for another three-year period.
By the end of July 1973 the UG Group of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO) had put out a strong statement, “This latest move of the Board of Governors packed with adherents of the People’s National Congress, is a naked and brutal show of discrimination calculated to silence dissidents who express their criticism of the establishment.”
October 1973 saw a “Six point demand on the Government” by the PPP which included, “1. The fullest respect be given to academic freedom or the right to dissent, at the institution.” And, “2. Immediate end to discrimination and harassment of students and teachers.” Also, “4. Reconstitution of the UG Board to reflect all shades of opinion.”
UG was by this time celebrating its tenth anniversary and on the occasion of the October UG Convocation Mr Insanally in public protest used the opportunity to return his Bachelor of Science diploma torn to the Vice Chancellor. Insanally had graduated with honours, winning the Chancellor’s medal for outstanding performance.
Thirdly, within a decade, two other lecturers were “sacked” by UG: Dr. Adeola James of the English Department and Mike McCormack of the Political Science Department and a leading member of the Guyana Human Rights Association. UG in the mid 70’s and 80’s was a hotbed, Vice Chancellor Irvine at one point asking for a period of tranquility.
What is important here is the dismissal of Paul Tennassee in 1982, a Research Fellow at UG’s Institute of Development Studies and a known critic of the government. No consultation took place between the Council and the Appointment Commit-tee or Vice Chancellor Irvine who was in Jamaica at the time or with either the Institute of Development or the Dean of the Faculty of Social Science on the quality of his work or the looming termination of his contract.
The two specific cases, Mohamed Insanally and Paul Tennassee, do not diminish the injustice of Mr. Kissoon’s termination. And, again, UG should remedy the latter infraction post-haste both in apology and compensation.
Yours faithfully,
Sherod Avery Duncan
