I never said UG Vice-Chancellor sexually harassed me - CEO of Africa Integras

Andrea Pizziconi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Africa Integras, says she never accused the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Ghana (UG), Professor Ebenezer Oduro-Owusu of sexually harassing her.

There were earlier media reports that stated that she had accused Prof. Oduro-Owusu of sexual harassment this the latter has dismissed.

Pizziconi says it was not sexual harassment but clear misogyny(dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women).

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She disclosed in a statement that Prof. Oduro-Owusu asked her to use her womanly prowess to secure the US$64m infrastructure investment at the university campus.

Andrea Pizziconi wrote “I agree that you never harassed me. Nor did I ever say as much…..Of course, I requested that we meet alone to discuss the project at least once during the various stages of the two years when we tried to help you remedy your willful default on the project… It seems you may have thought that I wanted to meet you alone for the devilish reasons that you suggest and that you implied that day in the Council meeting (with the former VC present rather than myself) when you suggested that I used my womanly prowess rather than my brain and unique expertise in university development to close this monumental project.”

In what she described as blasphemous press releases, Ms. Pizziconi claims the VC passionately and bizarrely insinuated these allegations which extensively questioned her credibility, and EOCO investigations against the former VC and herself were attempts to prove that anything other than the merits of the project’s vast benefits were at the heart of the decision to advance the project into construction.

“These efforts have yielded not a shred of evidence that any stakeholder has acted in any untoward way to execute the project. There is, however, the obvious fact of my credibility that the buildings (and the tens of millions of dollars in investment they represent) are there on the ground for anyone to inspect. In short, I delivered on my obligations for the project,” her post reads on.

Andrea Pizziconi stated further that the VC was thinking that she had some desire to influence him in any other way than with the merits of the facts of the project’s benefits, that is why she made her earlier statement.

“The issue of sex for grades and the dismissal of a significant development partner because the company happens to be led by a ‘far too pretty…’ CEO is related. It is long overdue that women are treated as serious business people (or serious students in the case of sex for grade) and not bodies of sex to be exploited or dismissed. Surely, you have met many businessmen one-on-one over the years. There is nothing inappropriate by such a request,” she noted.

The Africa Integras CEO earlier accused the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana of sexually harassing her.

In response, Prof Ebenezer Oduro-Owusu said Andrea Pizziconi, is “desperate” and “bitter” because he renegotiated her company’s contract with the University of Ghana.

“We have never sat anywhere one-on-one because my policy is that we work as a team and, so, I don’t sit one-on-one with people and that is what she didn’t like.

“The last time she said she wanted to meet me one-on-one, I called the Registrar to join the meeting but when she realised that I was coming with others, she didn’t like that idea. I have never been in a secluded area with her – either in my house, office or hotel, never!”

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