Witches and Wizards of MMTU Exposed

By Lamin Bangura

Over the past several weeks, the public has been inundated with reports from newspapers and leading radio stations concerning the recruitment process at Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU). Journalists have conducted interviews with various stakeholders, including the Chairman of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), the Chancellor, members of the interview panel, the University’s Public Relations Officer, and some former staff of the Polytechnic. Notably, however, the Vice Chancellor and Principal declined to be interviewed.

Some school of thoughts hold a strong view that all the problems at MMTU is being machinated by some set of people who are known to be the ‘’witches and wizards against the development of the university.’’ These allegations, which have been doing the rounds over the past weeks, have manifested into reality as a result of the actions of the Minister of Technical and Higher Education, who, many believe, is allegedly behind those fanning flames to render the university useless.

It could be recalled that the Chancellor, Ing. Alhaji Mohamed A. Jalloh, publicly confirmed through multiple media outlets that he chaired a duly constituted Executive Committee of Court meeting at which the entire recruitment process was presented, reviewed, and discussed. At that meeting, Court members unanimously agreed that a public notice should be issued informing all applicants that the recruitment process had officially closed. This confirmation clearly demonstrates that the Chancellor was part and parcel of the decision that led to the closure of the recruitment exercise.

What makes the whole thing more comical, as if we are watching a Nigerian movie, is the decision of the Hon. Minister to forcefully interfere in the recruitment process by demanding that the Vice Chancellor and Principal surrender all raw interview scores, when we all known that the decision to recruit new staff was approved and sanctioned by the University Court, of which the Chancellor is the chair and was actively involved.  Others strongly believe that the minister’s action sends a troubling signal of micromanagement of the University’s administration and sets a very dangerous precedent, one that no previous Minister of Education in this country had embraced.

Social and political analysts believe that this pattern of interference by the minister is not new, as she is allegedly accused of similar actions at the University of Sierra Leone (USL), where the independence of the University Court was significantly undermined. At Njala University, Minister Ramatulai was also alleged to have reportedly pressured the Court to endorse the continuation in office of a Vice Chancellor and Principal beyond the stipulated age limit, allegedly because of personal interests in the administration’s outcomes.

As if that was not enough, she is also alleged to have executed her same pattern at the Tertiary Education Commission, where she allegedly dismantled the entire staff structure by deploying truckloads of armed police officers to forcefully remove staff from office. Today, Milton Margai Technical University finds itself facing a similar fate.

The Minister is also allegedly reported of sidelining the University Court by directly engaging former Polytechnic staff and assuring them that they need not respect or accept the Court’s decisions regarding recruitment. This is evident in the statement of One Former Polytechnic staff member, who publicly boasted on Radio 98.1 that they have the full backing of the Hon. Minister and that she has promised their reinstatement. This, according to the speaker, explains why their names allegedly remain on the government payroll, while newly recruited staff, who have been working since October 2025, have not been paid.

There are concerns about former staff who allegedly do not hold any formal appointment with the University, but are still receiving salaries, while those with appointment letters approved by the Court are working without salary, reportedly with the support of the Hon. Minister.

Court members are deeply disturbed by revelations from former Polytechnic staff, aired on radio, claiming that the Hon. Minister demanded the submission of raw interview data involving Professors and senior University administrators. This assertion is viewed as a direct affront to the authority and independence of the University Court.

As a result, several Court members have expressed strong dissatisfaction and have resolved to withhold their services, citing disrespect and persistent undermining of their role. Many note that Court members are not paid for their services, while individuals who are not actively working, like the Chancellor, or who were paid severance benefits, continue to receive salaries from government funds.

A Member of Parliament has reportedly described the actions of the Hon. Minister as the worst precedent ever set within the Ministry of Education, warning that it will have long-lasting negative consequences for the country’s educational sector.

Efforts by the press to obtain comments from the Vice Chancellor and Principal regarding the release of interview raw scores to the Hon. Minister were unsuccessful, as he declined to comment.

Several Court members contacted have confirmed that they are prepared to withhold their participation in Court activities and will wait for the Hon. Minister to sack them, as had allegedly occurred previously at USL and the TEC.