By: Emmanuel Mbowa
Freetown, 16th December 2025- Staff members of the Tertiary Education Commission have registered their discontent and condemned the presence of over twenty (20) armed police officers who this morning barricaded the TEC premises after a suspension letter was issued by their Chairman, Prof. A.M. Alghali.
”This is a blatant abuse of our fundamental human rights and our employment status. “Nevertheless, we leave it to the rightful authorities to determine because this is like closing an entire government agency with no court order or presidential proclamation,” Josephus Sawyer, Admin Manager, told Truth Media.
He added, “If this is the position of the Ministry, we don’t have anything to say. We have complied and exited the building, and it’s now in the hands of the security personnel and the Ministry.”
The armed police officers, Josephus Sawyer further explained, “were led by Idrissa Sannoh, a director from the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education,” with the suspension letter signed by the TEC chairman.
The suspension letter was issued by Prof. A.M. Alghali, referencing the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education’s query notice for “acts of insubordination, insolent behaviour, and unprofessional conduct exhibited by staff members towards the Hon. Minister and other senior MTHE officials during an official engagement at the ministry’s main conference hall, New England.”
The suspension letter highlighted the staff members’ failure “to provide a written explanation within two (2) days,” by November 27, “clearly addressing” the above-mentioned issues that led to their query by the Ministry.
Josephus Sawyer countered that “the query notice the Chairman is basing his action on, the period the query letter came, was signed by Idrissa Sannoh, who is not even a staff member of TEC. Secondly, there was already a moratorium by the Honourable House of Parliament that all parties should stay put; that is, no action should be taken.”
Josephus Sawyer concluded that “we view this as an abuse of our fundamental human rights and a contravention of the Parliamentary Committee’s mandate and moratorium they had placed.”
The administrative action taken by the Chairman, Prof. A.M. Alghali will have half of staff members’ salaries withheld with “immediate effect until further notice, pending the conclusion of further investigations, and administrative and disciplinary actions.”
While the administrative saga between the Chairman and the staff members is far from being resolved, staff members say the decision of the Chairman and the Ministry will not only affect them as workers but also undermine President Bio’s human capital development and Radical Inclusion initiatives.
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