FALSE ACCUSATIONS BY LEGON HALL MANAGEMENT?

EXPLANATIONS TO FALSE ALLEGATIONS LEVELED AGAINST ME AND UNFAIR TREATMENT BY LEGON HALL MANAGEMENT

PROFILE

I am Justice Atta Sarfo, popularly known as OD33FUO or MAJESTY, a regular student at the University of Ghana-Legon pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Education (non-teaching), and I served as the Legon Hall JCR President from August 2023 to July 2024.

PREAMBLE

Here is a comprehensive explanation of the baseless and unfounded allegations made against me by the Legon Hall Senior Hall Tutor, Dr. Monica Mensah Dankwah; Hall Master, Dr. Alfred Ato Yankson; and Legon Hall Congress Speaker, Chinbuah Wilfred. These accusations are driven by personal agendas and self-interest, without any supporting evidence. I have been accused of:

1. Fraud, including the use of unauthorized letterheads and involving unknown individuals to solicit funds from people, including Hon. Lydia Alhassan (MP) and Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin (Speaker of Parliament).

2. Inciting unrest in Legon Hall by allegedly leading unknown residents to distribute anonymous petitions and demonstration flyers.

3. Various other baseless accusations.

Below, I provide a detailed explanation of these false allegations, supported by evidence. Please read through to understand the origins of these issues.

OVERVIEW

The conflict between me, as the JCR President of Legon Hall, and the Hall Management, specifically Senior Hall Tutor Dr. Monica Mensah Dankwah and Hall Master Dr. Alfred Ato Yankson, escalated on May 3, 2024. The issue began when I received a last-minute notification from Dr. Monica on May 1, 2024, around 6:00 pm, informing me that residents could not resume on May 3 as scheduled but should return on May 6, due to ongoing painting and fumigation in the hall. This sudden change caused significant inconvenience, especially for students with special needs who had already made preparations or started their journey to campus, as the academic calendar clearly stated that students were to return between May 3 and May 5.

On May 3, several residents arrived on campus, unaware of the postponement, only to be denied access to their rooms by the Hall Management. The situation was dire, with students stranded outside without any assistance from the management. In response, I immediately wrote to the Dean’s Office and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (ASA), seeking urgent intervention. However, since the Dean was on leave, I contacted the Pro Vice-Chancellor directly via WhatsApp, explaining the situation. He assured me that he would reach out to the Hall Management to make provisions for the affected students.

I then called Hall Master Dr. Alfred Ato Yankson to inquire about the provisions for these students. Instead of addressing the issue, he questioned why I was on campus and ordered me to pack my belongings and leave the hall that very day, even though the JCR executives had applied for stay-in privileges. He even threatened to have me arrested if I stayed in my room that night. For my safety, I slept in the JCR office that night.

On May 4, after going out to buy food at the night market, I returned to find the main gate locked by the hall assistant, Anty Linda, on orders from the Hall Master. She was instructed not to allow any JCR executives into the hall, only National Service personnel. Despite my efforts to convince her, she refused to let me in, fearing for her job. As a result, I spent the night on benches at the Language Center, and the following morning, I moved to the Akuafo Hall JCR office to sleep, as I couldn’t sleep due to mosquitoes.

That evening, I returned to Legon Hall to bathe and eat. However, around 8:30 pm, an unknown hall assistant came to my room to inform me that Dr. Yankson had ordered my immediate eviction. When I explained that I couldn’t move out that night due to the long journey back home, the hall assistant left, only to return 20-30 minutes later with Dr. Yankson himself. He demanded that I pack my things and leave immediately, forcibly removing me from the room and giving the key to the hall assistant. This occurred around 10:20 pm, leaving me no choice but to return to the JCR office to sleep on the floor.

This incident wasn’t the first of its kind; Dr. Yankson had a history of mistreatment, as evidenced by a complaint letter dated October 27, 2021, from a resident named Mr. Masti Collin, who accused Dr. Yankson of assault while he was Senior Hall Tutor.

A few days later, I was informed by anonymous sources that Dr. Monica was furious with me for reporting the situation to the Pro Vice-Chancellor and vowed to ensure my removal from office and the hall. She allegedly claimed that I had informed the Pro Vice-Chancellor that she was being controlled by Dr. Yankson, a statement I never made. I only sought the Pro Vice-Chancellor's intervention to secure accommodations for the residents who were already on campus on May 3.

I did not bother until things started escalating, from allegedly accusing me of engaging in fraudulent activities without evidence, accusing me of leading some Legon Hall residents to demonstrate; also, using an anonymous SIM card to share demonstration flyers and messages, and reported me to the Dean of Students (Prof. Rosina Kyeremateng) that I had not paid my hall fees, and a whole lot of situations.

Upon all these allegations, management does not have any proof to substantiate their claims.

Dr. Ato and JCR President (1).mp4

This is the call recording between the JCR President (Mr. Justice Atta Sarfo) and the Hall Master (Dr. Ato Yankson) when the JCR President (Justice A. Sarfo) called on May 3, 2024, to advocate for the necessary provisions for the students who reported on campus but were restricted from having access to the hall.

The Hall Master (Dr. Ato Yankson) threatened to arrest the JCR President if the JCR President slept in his room or in the hall that night.

Dr. ATO (online-video-cutter.com) (1) (1).mp4

This is a voice recording of what transpired when the Hall Master (Dr. Ato Yankson) came to the JCR President room to sack from the President room on May 5, 2024, following the incident that happened on May 3, 2024

EXPLANATIONS TO THE ISSUES OF ALLEGED FRAUD BY THE SENIOR HALL TUTOR AND CHINBUAH WILFRED

Legon Hall’s 70th anniversary included a week-long celebration by the JCR, which received verbal approval from the Senior Hall Tutor, Dr. Monica Mensah. Under the guidance of Dr. Enoch Sekyi Yeboah, Deputy Chair for Programs and Events, a committee was formed to oversee the JCR’s involvement. The JCR executives, with Dr. Enoch's support, enlisted Mr. Emmanuel Akwasi Apondroh (Paa Kwasi) and Mr. Gideon Ofori to assist in securing sponsorships, as the main anniversary committee would not be funding the JCR's events. These two individuals were informally granted stay-in privileges by the Senior Hall Tutor during the vacation period to facilitate their work.

I tasked the JCR Vice President, Ernest Baidoo, to accompany the sponsorship committee to ensure transparency. However, the Vice President later informed me that Paa Kwasi and Gideon had visited a company without his knowledge. Suspecting they might have been collecting money independently, the vice president, along with the organizing secretary, terminated their appointments. I opposed this decision as it was unconstitutional, leading to misunderstandings between the JCR executives and myself.

As the sponsorship committee continued their efforts, they requested funds for transportation. On April 22, 2024, we approached the Senior Hall Tutor at her office in the Department of Information Studies, but she refused to provide financial assistance, citing the need for proof of their work. On April 24, 2024, the senior hall tutor tasked me with compiling the list of all the committee members, and after going through the list, she replied that she could not approve Mr. Emmanuel Akwasi Apondroh because he had appeared before the disciplinary committee and there was a report on her desk claiming he was a criminal. Meanwhile, these individuals had already been seeking sponsorship way back in March 2024, which the senior hall tutor was aware of. Despite this, the committee secured a cheque for GHC 12,650 from a sponsor. To ensure transparency, I, along with Paa Kwasi and Gideon Ofori, presented the check to the Senior Hall Tutor, who commended our efforts and instructed us to hand it over to the JCR Treasurer for deposit into the JCR account.

However, that evening, Paa Kwasi and Gideon informed me that they were being denied entry into the hall unless they produced the JCR President. When I arrived, I was confronted by Dr. Enoch Sekyi Yeboah and another tutor, who demanded to know who had allowed me into the hall. I was confused. I was directed to a meeting in the hall master’s conference room.

During the meeting, the senior hall tutor suddenly accused me of deceiving her about the cheque, despite having seen it earlier in the day. She also claimed that we had used an unauthorized letterhead and logo in our sponsorship efforts, a charge I was unaware of since I was not involved in the initial stages. Furthermore, she accused me of collecting money from prominent alumni, including the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, and Hon. Lydia Alhassan, without presenting any evidence to substantiate these serious allegations. Meanwhile, the alleged letterhead did not bear my details, and I was not even part of the committee sponsorship drive from the beginning, so it was out of my knowledge.

The Senior Hall Tutor accused me of fraud in a letter to the JCR Congress, which led to an investigation request. Congress Speaker Wilfred Chinbuah echoed these claims without evidence. The JCR Judicial Board dismissed the case after finding no proof, but Chinbuah refused to retract his accusations, likely due to hall management support.

These false accusations were spread on the University of Ghana and Legon Hall JCR WhatsApp platforms, damaging my reputation and that of my administration. Despite the serious allegations, no concrete evidence of fraud was provided.

Later on, the Senior Hall Tutor confessed that, after I left the office with Paa Kwasi and Gideon Ofori, the JCR Treasurer (Philip Atitsogbui), Organizing Secretary (Abdul Wasiw), and the Vice President (Ernest Baidoo) visited her office and claimed I had not received any checks. Meanwhile, I had informed these three executives about the check. However, Paa Kwasi and Gideon Ofori did not claim the check alone but with myself and the JCR General Secretary (Precious Kedje). So how could I deceive the executives and the senior hall tutor?

Anonymous petitions and demonstration flyers by some unknown residents also surfaced, leading to accusations that I was inciting unrest. In a meeting with the Dean of UG Students Affair and the Vice Dean trying to address the onging anonymous petitions and demonstrations due to the to the No Visitors Allow Policy in Legon Hall, the Senior Hall Tutor claimed I used an unknown number called "Ambitious" to share these materials, allegedly confirmed by an investigation with UGCS and IBM. I disputed these allegations and requested evidence, but none was provided.

The Hall Council, led by Hall Master Dr. Ato Yankson, summoned me to address these accusations but excluded me from discussions. The Hall Disciplinary Committee, set up by the senior hall tutor, accused me of various actions, including taking money from alumni and sharing demonstration flyers—all baseless and unsupported by evidence.

On July 25, 2024, I received a letter terminating my residency in Legon Hall, based on the Disciplinary Committee's report, which contradicted my statements during the hearing. On July 29, 2024, I was forcibly evicted, with my belongings locked inside. I was banned from returning to the hall, even as a visitor.

After envicting me from the hall, the senior hall blackmailed the other executives by saying if the remaining executives did not release a letter to declare the vice president as the new president, she, the senior hall, would not give them any money again to complete their JCR activities, so out of fear, the remaining JCR executives also swore in the vice president as the new president, as the senior hall tutor said (DDr. Monica Mensah).

I HAD NO OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN MYSELF, BECAUSE IN AFRICAN SOCIETY, THE KID IS ALWAYS AT FAULT EVEN WHEN THE ELDER IS AT FAULT.

The senior has been lying on me everywhere she goes. claiming I am untruthful, disrespectful, and making whole derogatory remarks on me. Just to look innocent before others.

I did my best as President at all costs to defend the rights of the residents, even in the midst of detriments. I had no help to fight again. I am not perfect to say I was right in everything, but I did my best as president. I dedicate my time, energy, resources, and academics to serving.

Summary

In summary, I, Justice Atta Sarfo, popularly known as Od33fuo or Majesty, want it to be on record that I have never taken any money from any individual. I submit myself to any committee for future investigation, and we can engage with the Speaker of Parliament (Rt. Hon. Kingsford Bagbin) and Hon. Lydia Alhassan if there is any evidence of me receiving money from them. All the places I visited, I did so with my executives, so how could I have taken money without their consent?

If they have any evidence of me engaging in fraudulent activities, I dare them to bring it out publicly:

THANK YOU FOR READING.

CONTACT INFO.

TEL: 0548636137

MAIL: Jasarfo004@st.ug.edu.gh. / Od33fuo@gmail.com