Mayhem At Legon Gate

Confusion at the  Legon gate yesterday
Parents who have their wards at the University Basic School located on the premises of the University of Ghana, Legon, clashed with university security personnel at the gate Thursday morning, after they were prevented from entering the university compus.

The security personnel had been ordered not to allow cars without approved University of Ghana stickers to enter the campus from the boundary gate end of the school, close to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

In protest against the orders given by the authorities of the university, some parents blocked the access road with their cars to prevent other vehicles from moving through the gate.

Although the university provided a bus to transport pupils to the University Basic school, the parents still parked their cars on the road in protest against a GH¢400 university sticker that would give them unlimited access to the university campus for a year.

According to them, the amount for the sticker was exorbitant. The parents also insisted it was not safe for their wards to get to the school in the bus provided by the university for fear of kidnapping.

Some parents had to make their children walk more than 200 meters through the Thursday morning rains to the school.

This forced police directing traffic in the area to plead with the university’s security personnel to allow the parents go through the university campus since the impasse was creating heavy traffic jam in the vicinity.

Even though the security personnel subsequently allowed parents entry into the university premises, the aggrieved parents have vowed to constantly block the roads unless university authorities rescind their decision to charge them the GH¢400 road toll.

Some parents said they were willing to pay nothing more than GH¢100 if the university authorities insisted on charging them a toll for accessing its roads.

Meanwhile, not all the parents are in support of the decision to block the roads. A scuffle ensued between two female parents after one them (with the approved sticker) was prevented by another from entering the campus.

Authorities at the University of Ghana, who manage the University Basic School, have come under strong public criticism since they decided to charge road tolls before granting access to the university roads.

According to the university authorities, proceeds from the tolls were to make up for the cost incurred in rehabilitating the university roads.