The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu has led a delegation from the University of Ghana to meet the Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah. The meeting follows recent agitations from the student front following the outcome of the judgement debt imposed in respect of the loan for the construction of four student residential facilities under the University of Ghana Enterprise Limited (UGEL).
Welcoming the delegation, the minister who gave a background of how the university in the wake of student enrollment moved to augment accommodation facilities. He said the new halls were intended to be privately run and different from the traditional halls in administration and charges but over the years, it was becoming difficult to make this distinction.
Following the press conference held by the student leadership last week, Prof. Yankah said that, he contacted the Vice-Chancellor to discuss the current situation with respect to the student’s agitation. It was agreed that University officials and the student leadership will meet with him to continue the discussion. He was therefore happy that the meeting was taking place.
Speaking on behalf of the University of Ghana students, the SRC President, Sylvester Owusu Amoako said the student body was agitated due to the fact that a deadline given by the consortium of banks led by Cal Bank concerning the loan procured for the construction of the four UGEL Halls has about ten days to expire. According to the SRC President, the inability of the university management to settle the loan may lead the University to privatize the Halls. He indicated the four halls in question houses majority of the students and therefore privatizing them would be a huge blow to the students. He therefore called on the minister to impress on government to step in before the deadline of May 31st, 2019. Again, he appealed to government to meet with the consortium of banks to possibly extend the deadline for further deliberations. He ended by commending the government on the various educational policies being carried out with emphasis on the Free SHS policy.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, confirmed earlier submissions made by the SRC President and explained that following from the judgment, the University was to make an initial payment of GH₵50 million by the end of May, 2019 and an additional GH₵50 million by the end of October 2019. He said that the University has paid the legal fees of GH₵3.8million.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, options of how the issue should be handled were brought up; privatizing the halls was one of the options.
Explaining the difficulties the University is going through, the Vice-Chancellor mentioned that since the 2015/2016 academic year, there has been no increment in fees, which he said is impeding the smooth running of the university. He further called on government to expedite action on the document on university fees which is before Parliament.
The Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. Godfred Bopkin, explained that if the University is to recover the loan procured for the construction of the halls, the current accommodation fees would need to be reviewed. He appealed to government to step in, in order to calm the situation.
The Minister assured the delegation that he would arrange a meeting with the consortium of banks to chart the way forward. Please click here for a press release from the Ministry of Education.
The delegation from the University of Ghana was led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu. Other officials were Prof. Godfred Bokpin, Acting Dean of Students Affairs, Dr. Olivia Anku-Tsede, Legal Counsel, Mrs. Stella A. Amoa, Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Baidoo, College Secretary, College of Basic and Applied Sciences and Alhaji Dr. Sidick, Station Manager, Radio Univers.
Representing the students were Messers Sylvester Owusu Amoako, out-going SRC President, Isaac Agyemang, SRC President-elect, Rock Ashley, out-going GRASAG President, Christian Atadika, GRASAG President-elect, and other members of the SRC Executive Committee.
Background
As part of efforts to solve the accommodation problems confronting students, the University of Ghana, through the University of Ghana Enterprise Limited (UGEL) in 2007, entered into an agreement with the six banks to build hostel facilities to meet the accommodation demands.
Under the agreement, the syndicate, led by the CAL bank, provided GH¢26 million for the project which was meant to accommodate 7,000 students, while the university provided GH¢4.2 million.The agreement led to the construction of four new halls of residence. These are the Hilla Limann; Alex Kwapong, Elizabeth Sey and the Jean Nelson Halls.
