The Parliamentary Committee on Technical and Higher Education headed by Hon. Joseph Williams Lamin on Friday 19th June 2026 recommended that the suspension of the Vice Chancellor and Principal (VC&P) of the Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU), Professor Philip John Kanu, was illegal and therefore must resume duty as soon as possible.
The letter of invitation for the Committee’s Emergency Summon reads, “I refer to the above and to acknowledge receipt of requested minutes of the University Court’s Sittings and other documents related to the operations of the Milton Margai Technical University for which the above Parliamentary Committee now wishes to meet with the University Court Members to discuss critical matters related to the administration of the MMTU.”
Among others, the Parliamentary Committee revealed that as the Chairman of the University Court and Chancellor of MMTU, Engineer Mohamed Alie Jalloh does not have the unilateral authority to suspend the VC&P according to the Universities Act 2021 and MMTU laws and that the Chancellor must not use personal rift or borrowed malice to revenge against Professor Philip John Kanu who worked hard to transform the institution from Polytechnic to a Technical University which made the Ing. Jalloh to be appointed Chancellor today. It was also reiterated that the University Court and the MTHE should not be at variance over issues related to the operations of the university as both of them are to support the Administration to succeed in it functions. The Committee noticed that there is a deep sitted personal grudge by the Chief Technical Education Officer Dr. Josephus Brimah from his posture it is clearly seen as the person that is not providing the right advise to the Minister for that reason the Committee will now be robust in its functions and engage the Minister of MTHE regularly. The Technical Head Dr. Brimah is boasting of having two PhDs but he is not providing the right leadership in that sector, which the Members of Parliament were disappointed as this issue should not have attracted the attention of the public if only the Dr. Brimah did not use personal vendetta against the leadership of MMTU. He failed to provide the professional advice to the Minister as his posture during the meeting clearly shows the reason why the Ministry is always having problems with the institutions they suppose to support to funtion properly. This reporter will continue to investigate Dr. Josephus Brimah’s professional history to know if he is really qualified to occupy that important office in the country. Such office must be occupied by a seasoned civil servant or highly academic who must have gone through the ranks of the Civil Service that will expose him into the Civil Service Code or have attained a high level in any academic institution that will make him to have respect for Administrative processes and procedures. We will go to his former work places to find out about Dr. Josephus Brimah who is creating all the rifts in the Ministry because he vould not provide sound professional advice to the Minister and later Mr. E. J. Momoh who is parading the Ministry as the legal adviser to the Minister while we have a Solicitor General in the Country to help interprete provisions of any Act of MDAs.
The recommendations were made at the Committee Meeting in Parliament Building, Tower Hill in Freetown.
It was resolved that the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE) and the Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU) amicably resolve their impasse through dialogue like what obtained with the TEC issue. A family meeting was agreed by the Members of Parliament with the Minister to be held on 6th July 2026.
“Borrowed anger is killing MMTU,” Hon. AKK, a member of the Committee asserted. The Chief Technical Education Officer is speaking like he has personal problem with the leadership of MMTU. He tried to mislead the committee to believe that the action of the Chancellor is within the Universities Act 2021. Even though the authority to suspend, terminate and dismiss any senior staff of the University rested solely in the hands of the University Court members. It is the Court that has the authority to suspend the VC&P for a “good course”. In this case the Chancellor single handedly suspended the Vice Chancellor and Principal with the support of the Minister and Dr. Josephus Brimah. The entire court members who were present in the meeting denied that they never held a meeting where such decision was taking. Instead in the meeting of the 26th March 2026, the University Court unanimously agreed on three resolutions, one of which the Vice Chancellor and Principal must not be asked to step aside. Just after that meeting, the Chancellor went to the Minister to decide otherwise. This is troubling because the decision of court on issues related to the operations of the court must not be tempered by the Minister.
Furthermore, it was unanimously resolved that the suspension of Professor Philip John Kanu, who was not found wanting by any of the Committees setup to investigate the issues, must be lifted with immediate effect and allow the institution’s bank accounts be operational.
The Parliamentary Committee enlightened that only the President has the supreme executive authority to act unilaterally in certain cases but with limitations.
The Parliamentary Committee also ruled that the University Court supersedes the Committee setup by the MTHE to investigate the matter, that the Minister herself should be invited to Parliament underlining that with the current stalemate at MMTU, nobody will win and it is not good for the country for which all parties must bury their egos that is killing MMTU and gave negative publications about the country. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee reiterated the need for reconciliation for prosperity not to judge them harshly as the issue has attracted attention and the interest of Members of Parliament from the SLPP, APC and the Paramount Chiefs in Parliament. Since your appointment as Chancellor what have you brought to the University? What have you contributed to the University since your appointment, one the MPs asked.
Furthermore, the Parliamentary Committee condemned dictatorship in any administration which the Chancellor is currently doing in the University, called on all parties to work as partners, humbled, go back to the drawing board and reflect on the current awful situation underscoring that when one undermines a situation, it will destroy the country and therefore all should work as a team. Chancellor must remove personal interest and follow the provisions of the Universities Act 2021.
They asked the rhetoric question: “what value have the various parties added to MMTU?” Particularly the Chancellor and the Chief Technical Education Officer. As for the past six months the institution is been held in one place.
Members of the Parliamentary Committee also observed the numerous problems between the MTHE and tertiary institutions in the country citing the University of Sierra Leone, the Njala University leadership saga between them and the ASA and the Tertiary Education Commission.
Among others, the Parliamentary Committee looked into the long-awaited report of the committee setup by the MTHE since March this year to look into the issue of some of the former staff of the MMTU who were not successful during the recruitment process. The Committee requested that all reports must be presented to the University Court not to the Minister. That is the procedure, the University court ordered for a committee to be set up after the work it is only the University Court that has the power to say the report has problems not the Chancellor and the Minister. The Universities Act 2021 is very clear in the operations of the Court, so why not follow the Act and the Statue of the University a member of Parliament asked. The University leadership has not been treated fairly by the Chancellor and the Ministry as other developments that have taken place since then are not good for the country. MMTU has always been audited annually and all the options are unqualified ones, meaning the institution is doing well, so why closing their account? Professor Philip John Kanu was not only asked to step aside by the Chancellor but he was also requested to resign all of which have attracted intense public interest. Why should he resign? For what reason? These are questions the Chancellor should have provided answers for but he could not.
The Chancellor was asked how he feels to the fact that the entire Court membership has denied authorizing him to sign on its behalf. This raises serious concerns about the basis upon which he represented his actions as having the Court’s approval. He acted as a dictator.
The public was misled to believe that the suspension of the Vice Chancellor and the Principal was undertaken with the authority of the Court which is not the case. However, if Court members did not grant such authorization, questions arise regarding the legitimacy and transparency of those actions.
Having taken an oath in Parliament but lied, the Chancellor is expected to uphold principles of accountability, integrity, and respect for institutional governance. Critics argue that by acting without the express approval of the Court, he exceeded his authority and effectively usurped powers that properly belong to the collective membership of the Court. As a result, some observers view his conduct as autocratic, dictatorial and inconsistent with the shared decision-making processes expected within the institution.
It was recalled that former staff demonstrated in the Ministry for the Minister to direct the Vice Chancellor and Principal for them to be recruited. This made the Minister to request from the Vice Chancellor and Principal the raw scores of the interview panel. After receiving the data the Minister identified some irregularities in the report submitted to her by the Vice Chancellor and Principal who was actually not part of the interview panel that made the Minister to attend a court meeting on the 6th January 2026 to inform the court to set up a committee to investigate the recruitment process not to investigate the office of the Vice Chancellor and Principal but the committee went out of their ToRs and recommended for the Vice Chancellor and Principal to step aside which actually created all this unhealthy issues in the institution. They acted out of their mandate, it is a shame for experience Professors to be allowed themselves to be used by making a recommendation which has nothing to do with the VC&P.
It was observed that the Committee formed to look into the matter for one week only focused on Professor Philip John Kanu and that the report was not holistically accepted while the recommendations were not fully implemented.
Representatives of the MTHE included the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Sheik Mohamed Kargbo and the Chief Technical Education Officer, Dr. Josephus Brimah.
Observers interviewed welcomed the development disclosing that over 15,000 students are anxiously waiting to give Professor Philip John Kanu a hero’s welcome back home. The same sentiments were expressed by the ASA representative.