The Court of the University of Sierra Leone has upheld the expulsion of one student and the rustication of 28 others, which was a recommendation of the Special Disciplinary Committee set up to look into various offences committed in May this year by Fourah Bay College students.
This means that the affected students must discontinue their examinations which are currently underway.
Their offences include illegally occupying the college hostels, physically attacking the Warden of Students and insubordination to the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the college.
This led to the University authorities meting out punishments ranging from the expulsion and rustication of between one and two years, to fines and denial of accommodation for the students throughout their days in the college.
Of the 31 students earlier found wanting and for which the Senate’s Special Disciplinary Committee had recommended the expulsion of three students, a Legal and Discipline Committee set up by the court to look into the appeal filed by the students, upheld the expulsion of one student, while reducing the punishments for the others.
In all, the Court upheld the expulsion of one student, reduced the punishment of expulsion of another two students to a 2-year rustication, bringing the total number of rusticated students to 28.
Other recommendations of the Legal and Discipline Committee are that affected students that are holders of the Sierra Leone Government Grant-in-aid will forfeit their sponsorship.
The President of the Fourah Bay College Students’ Union, Siman Allie has reacted angrily to the decision. Speaking to Politico he expressed disappointment over the Court’s decision “even though the punishments were reduced”. He said they would summon an emergency students’ union executive meeting to respond to the Court’s decision.
This is the first time the University has executed a mass rustication of students in recent times. In the 1998/1999 academic year, seven student leaders were sent out of campus for a students’ demonstration against Prof. Victor Strasser-King, then Principal of Fourah Bay College. The students were however, allowed to take their exams although they were prevented from attending lectures.
