A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Agona East, Dr. Martin Luther Obeng, has accused the Minister of Education, Martin Opoku Prempeh, of being the cause of the ongoing confusion at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Campus.
Dr. Martin Luther Obeng told host Kwame Afrifa-Mensah on ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ political show on Happy FM that, ‘’It was the loose talk of Martin Opoku Prempeh the Education minister that caused the chaos in KNUST.’’
When the single sex halls were changed into mixed halls, the minister came out to endorse and called for the same to be done in other universities in the country,” he added.
He also stated that ‘’ it is baffling that people who are called senior researchers belief that changing single sex halls into mixed halls will curb riots on campus while research has proven otherwise.’’
According him, ‘’If UTAG allows Government to interfere in the running of the university that will erode permanently the autonomy universities enjoy now.’’
He called on Prof. Yankah, Minister of state in charge of Tertiary education, to advice the Minister of Education and the president of the Republic Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo to reinstate the Vice Chancellor and the governing council since such an act constitute an illegality.
The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, has also criticised the dissolution saying the management of KNUST was being politicised.
Government however expanded the representation of the interim Governing Council of KNUST to include reps from UTAG and the Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (TEWU) after criticism met the setup of the KNUST interim governing council.
Despite being added to the interim governing council, the KNUST UTAG Vice President, Professor Charles Marfo, has suggested that the government has misunderstood the complaints of UTAG, which has embarked on a strike in protest.
BY: Bridget Mensah