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Feeling cheated, because her rights have been seriously trampled upon, a former Principal Administrative Assistant of Ho Polytechnic, has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ho, seeking compensation for having been denied 163 working days accumulated annual leave by the Rector, Mr. Afun-Djakpasu, in connivance with the Registrar, all of Ho Polytechnic. Ms Connie Yeboah, who is now on retirement, noted in her petition that a deliberate attempt was made to rob her of the accumulated annual leave of 163 working days since documents relative to the issue were stolen from her file. �Meanwhile, I am holding my copies of the documents�, she told this paper. According to her, she entered the Polytechnic on December 16, 1996 as a Clerical Officer and rose through the ranks to the position of Principal Administrative Assistant at the end of tenure of service in May 2012�, serving the institution for 17 years on regular basis and an extra 8 months on post retirement contract basis, which started from May 2013 to December 2013. She said, she worked at different units of the school for the first 9 years and was subsequently posted to the Academic Affairs Unit which later became known as Student Records Unit, courtesy Mr. David K. Dzontoh, the current Registrar. The work in this unit, she said involved: �Entering the names and Registration Numbers of fresh students; Inputing of Examination Marks for all students (except non-Tertiary students); Preparation of Semestral Results of students, Preparation of cumulative Results of 3rd year students for the Academic Board; Correcting results of 3rd year students for the Academic Board, correcting the same after scrutiny by the Board, approval from them for onward transmission to NABPTEX; and finally, preparation of the following for students - Academic Transcripts, Detailed Results, Attestations, Recommendations, Testimonials, Application for passport letters and Application for visas. She said students were required to pay various sums of money for those services, making the unit to generate about GHc7,000.00 a month. Ms Yeboah said because of the workload in the Student Records Unit, she was made to work at times on Saturdays and Sundays. �In the year 2011 and 2012, Christmas and New Year holidays were spent in the office, excepting Christmas and New Year days of those two years�, said she, adding, �I was paid for the extra time in 2011, but till date, no remuneration has been made to me for the 2012 extra time despite the fact that I had filled a form indicating that I had done extra time�, revealed she, asking �has somebody collected that money and chopped? According to her, granting of her annual leave hadn�t been constant. �On many occasions, I was granted only a few days leave, and when even I applied for the rest it fell on deaf ears�, she lamented. �As a result�, she noted, �the Polytechnic owed me 163 working days leave, which had not been granted inspite of the several attempts I had made to get the Registrar grant me what was legitimately due me� MsYeboah said she was shocked, on December 20, 2013, when the Registrar told her, before Mr. Michael Todoko, then head of her unit and Mr. Evaristus Teprey, then head of the Human Resource Unit, that there was nothing on her file to indicate that the school owed her 163 working days annual leave. She said she was further intrigued by the Registrar�s claim that even her Post Retirement Contract letter was not on the file. �Amazingly, but for that recent letter and its endorsements, I should have gone on retirement since 2012�, she said, spurting forth, �the good Lord had exposed those who were trying to rob me of my accumulated annual leave and in the process of removing documents pertaining to the leave issue removed other letters not relevant to it.� She added, �even Mr. Todoko knew about the cumulative leave issue and was a signatory to one of the forms requesting the granting of the leave. She said she in 2014, she reported the matter to Mama Atrato, the Queenmother of Ho-Dome, who met the Rector on the leave issue and the delay in the payment of her End of Service Benefit (ESB). According to her, Mama Atrato asked her to see the Rector, who told her that the institution had taken a decision that any leave not enjoyed would be forfeited and that a memo had been sent around to that effect. MsYeboah said the institution prevented her from going on leave, which was due her as captured in her contractual engagement as a worker, and that she did not defer her leave on her own volition. She has therefore petitioned CHRAJ, seeking relief that payment of money should be made in lieu of the 163 working days accumulated annual leave that was denied her. Meanwhile, when this paper talked to the Registrar, he conceded that MsYeboah had an accumulation of 163 days working leave before her retirement,but added that because of that she was granted an application for an eight-month post�-retirement contract. �She is a senior officer not a lecturer. We grant only lecturers post-retirement contracts, but because of her leave issue, we decided to do her that favour which made up for the 163 days working leave�, the Registrar explained. However, this paper�s check reveals that the Registrar�s explanation is inconsistent with the fact that the institution has been granting post retirement contract applications for Senior Officers as well. A typical example is that of Mr. Ernest F. Goh, whose last position at the institute was a Principal Administrative Assistant. �Mr. E.F. Goh was awarded a one-year post retirement contract�, a staff at the Registrar�s Department told this paper.Notably, Mr. Goh did not have any deferred leave, this paper gathered. Also, significantly, the Registrar�s reply to MsYeboah�s application for the post -retirement contract appointment letter did not make any reference to the accumulated leave matter as a condition for granting it. His letter read; �The Appointments and Promotions Committee (Senior and Junior Staff) at its meeting held on Thursday 2nd May 2013 decided to recommend the offer of an eight-month post retirement contract appointment to you in the Registrar�s Department as Principal Administrative Assistant. �I wish on behalf of the Rector to offer you an eight-month post retirement contract appointment in the Registrar�s Department from 4th May 2013 to 31st December 2013. �The Registrar will assign you to your schedule of work� According to MsYeboah, the Registrar did not make any reference to her accumulated leave matter as a basis for granting her the post retirement contract appointment, during his interview with her. Contrary to expectations, the Rector, Mr. Afun-Jakpasu was very hauty when contacted on phone concerning the matter. He asked whether upon petitioning CHRAJ, MsYeboah petitioned this paper also, and what interest did the paper have in the matter. He said he was not obliged to tell this paper if he had received any letter from CHRAJ on Ms Yeboah�s petition and whether the petition had any merits or not, adding he was not in the office for the whole of last week and therefore could not tell whether there was such a letter to him or the Registrar. Sources from the office of CHRAJ, Ho, however, said the Rector had been served with a letter in connection with the petition and was required to answer.