Schram tells his side of the story on why he lost his job as Unitech VC

TRUMPED-up charges, a car chase, kickbacks, political agendas – stuff out of movies but have apparently been played out in Papua New Guinea.
Former University of Technology (Unitech) vice-chancellor Dr Albert Schram made the revelations after a fellow academic left another university early this month under questionable circumstances.
Writing from his home in Verona (Italy), Schram said while he did not know why Prof John Warren resigned from the University of Natural Resources and Environment, he appeared to be another victim of politics.
“As far as I know, like me, John Warren re-established a shared governance, committee-based system – not an easy task; it can take a few years,” he said in an email to a website a few days ago.
“After two years, he was getting changes on the move.”
But some quarters were unhappy, prompting the British academic to resign and leave in a hurry.
He had been vice-chancellor for less than two years.
Later, in a letter to the university council, Warren said he felt threatened and decided he should leave “as quickly and as quietly as possible”.
“Although Warren and I are Europeans and not Australians, the post-colonial hang-up in PNG played a role in this,” Schram said.
“When university councils get irritated and can agree on only one thing, getting rid of the expat is that one thing that seems to make sense.”
Schram also fled the country in 2012 when he was told that police would be trying to arrest him for allegedly abusing his position. Earlier, he said he was chased by a man with a gun.
“After a short car chase through the streets of Port Moresby, I was able to escape,” he said, adding that the man was a bodyguard to someone he knows.
Schram said that in the five years he was with Unitech, there were four politically-motivated attempts to dismiss him. At one stage, he was expelled from PNG for 14 months and refused re-entry, although still employed as vice-chancellor.
“In 2018, again, I was threatened with arrest and deportation by a respected member of the university council for no valid reason.
“Then in May, I was arrested on a trumped up charge of ‘false pretence’ my passport unlawfully impounded and I was held hostage in PNG for over a month under great stress and, I might add, at great expense.
“Officially, this case is not finished and I am living in my home place of Italy still on bail.
“We expect the case to be heard next month and duly dismissed for lack of any evidence that I have falsified anything, especially my PhD.”
Schram said that due to a legacy of mismanagement, stealing and general dishonesty were common in universities.
He said he was told that some university places were being sold for about K50,000 each.
He said when outsiders like him and Warren came in, “calling a spade a spade and taking action”, disgruntled staff would complain to the council and government.