The Chairman of the Economic Department at the William V.S. Tubman High School, Johnny Hopkins, is calling on President Joseph Nyumah Boakai to immediately and unconditionally replace Isaac Zawolo as Superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) for breaching the code of conduct.
According to Hopkins, Superintendent Zawolo has blatantly violated the code of conduct, which says that officials of government who are occupying tenure positions should not get involved in any political activity whatsoever.
Hopkins stated that the demonstration of loyalty to the Coalition for Democracy Change (CDC), especially during the 2023 campaign, proves that Superintendent Zawolo has no interest in improving the MCSS. “Besides, he has turned the MCSS Head Office into a market ground, selling uniforms to students at higher costs for business people,” Johnny Hopkins claimed.
Hopkins further alleged that the MCSS superintendent is in the habit of looting the facilities of MCSS, particularly the dozens of lockers on Tubman High School’s campus which are intended for students’ use. He alleged that they were taken away by Superintendent Zawolo upon taking over as head of MCSS.
The William V.S. Tubman High School was established in 1968 as a public vocational and academic institution within the MCSS, with in-built lockers for student use, but unfortunately all the lockers have now been taken away for no justifiable reason.
Hopkins has however reiterated that MCSS is a professional academic institution and, as such, should be void of politics, but regrettably Zawolo as superintendent of MCSS has allegedly gotten greatly involved in politics, and during the past years was allegedly engaged in campaigning for the CDC.
Hopkins alleged further that during the 2023 electoral process Superintendent Zawolo was engaged in constant threat of employees who were for the other political parties, especially partisans of Unity Party, including Johnny Hopkins, who was suspended on the order of Superintendent Zawolo, and was also threatened with dismissal because he (Hopkins) was campaigning for the Unity party.
Meanwhile, Economic Instructor Johnny Hopkins has explained that the superintendent position is an open and competitive process in which the Council of MCSS formally declares the position vacant and invite, applications from qualified candidates. Thereafter, the council does a short-listing for interview. The most performing individual is taken to the Minister of Education, who submits his name to the President for appointment.
But according to Hopkins, that was not the case with Isaac Zawolo who allegedly “did not go through the vetting process but rather he was simply handpicked and directly appointed by then President George Manneh Weah, and such act sharply contravenes the act that created the MCSS”.
Hopkins observed that if Zawolo had gone through the appropriate appointment procedure he would not have demonstrated such level of unprofessionalism as Superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS).