Aggrieved parents of students schooling at Westwood International School have taken the school to the Court of Appeal seeking the court to set aside a High Court decision denying them a right to be members of the school.
The aggrieved parents went to the Court of Appeal after the High Court ruled in favour of Westwood School that the parents of pupils schooling at Westwood have no right to be members of the school. Attorney Uyapo Ndadi of Ndadi Law Firm who was represented the parents argued that his clients should be accorded their role as members of the school.
Ndadi argued that his clients were initially members before it changed the constitution which barred them from being members of the school without the participation of parents as members.
He said as members of the school his clients had a responsibility to hold the management of the school accountable at any lawfully convened Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Ndadi said initially, parents were members of the school as provided for by the Articles of Association. He said the school went on to change the constitution which barred parents from being part of any general meeting held at the school without their consent.
Ndadi asked the Court of Appeal to declare that the new constitution be amended to reflect that parents of pupils at school are members of the school entitled to participate and vote at any general meeting of Westwood School as per the terms of the old Articles of Association that were changed without the parents’ input.
Appearing for Westwood School was Shakila Khan of Khan Corporate Law. She argued that parents brought politics to school meetings and made running the school difficult for management. Khan indicated that there was nothing wrong with coming up with a constitution to allow for the smooth running of the school. She also highlighted that the new constitution was properly adopted.
The panel of three Court of Appeal judges; Justice Ian Kirby, Justice Isaac Lesetedi, and Ian Foxcroft have reserved judgement for the 29th of October 2015.