The Legon student demostrators heading towards the ministry yesterday.
Scores of students from the University of Ghana descended on the streets of Accra yesterday to demonstrate against the increment of academic and accommodation fees for the 2011/2012 academic year.
They held placards, some of which read: ‘We No Go pay’, ‘School Fees Na Double Double’, ‘Aryeetey Yentua’, ‘If Inflation Is Single Then School Fees Should Be Single’, ‘Father For All Do Something’, ‘Aryeetey Must Go’, among others.
The students were however disappointed when they were prevented by the police from entering the premises of the Ministry of Education to present their petition to the Minister, even though they were allowed in Parliament house yard earlier on to present a similar petition.
When DAILY GUIDE reached Professor Ernest Aryeetey via telephone for his comment on the demonstration, he said, “I can only say it is unfortunate. I am out of Accra and not prepared to say anything further at the moment.”
Matters came to a head when after marching from Parliament House, the students were directed by the riot control police to the forecourt of Ohene Djan Sports Stadium where they were told that officials of the Education ministry would soon meet them so they could present their petition.
After about seven minutes, the students became incensed, claiming they were being shortchanged by the police and the Ministry’s officials.
They started moving back to the entrance of the stadium where a bust has been erected in memory of 126 football fans who perished on May 9, 2001.
Mahama Ayariga receiving the petition
The police quickly linked arms to form a human barrier about 30 meters from the entrance of the Ministry of Education so the students had no option but to stand in disappointment.
The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, Mahama Ayariga, suddenly appeared from the Ministry to receive the petition from student leadership and called for dialogue between the students and university authorities for peace and harmony to prevail.
He promised to look into the student’s grievance and ensure the issue is settled amicably, saying, “We are appealing to the students to allow more space for dialogue. I have also appealed to the authorities to engage the students to review the situation so that both parties will reach acceptable conclusion”.
Later, Mr. Ayariga told DAILY GUIDE that the students were complaining that the issue was not just about increment of fees but rather the manner in which the university authorities had handled the matter.
“All public universities have increased fees one way or the other but they are not demonstrating so why Legon?” he asked.
He said the government, in collaboration with the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), was working hard to organize a national forum in August 2011 on the financing of tertiary education where some of these issues would be discussed exhaustively.
While the leadership of the student body including the Student’s Representative Council (SRC) and the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) claimed they were doing their best to get the university authorities to rescind their decision to increase fees, some of the students accused their leaders of being ‘bribed’ to keep mute.
Hamza Suhini, NUGS Presidents, warned that they would not allow any student to pay fees if the decision was not reversed, saying, “We are prepared to sacrifice the coming semester to assert our rights.”
He said the turnout was not massive because the students were currently on vacation but assured that they were prepared to lead more demonstrations when school re-opened.
“We are here because we have exhausted all other available avenues. We expect them to respond positively; otherwise you can expect far more serious demonstrations.”
The march started at about 10:25 am from the Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, through Adabraka, TUC, National Theatre, Liberation Circle and Parliament House before ending at the entrance of the Ministry of Education.
At Parliament, Gershon Gbadiame, MP for Nkwanta South, and Majority Chief Whip, received the petition on behalf of the leadership of the house and promised to inform the house about the situation.
“When I was a student at the University of Cape Coast in the 1970s, we were involved in aluta. Kofi Totobi Kwakye was our student leader. We do not begrudge you for your actions. What you are doing is healthy because they bring out issues for deliberation.”
By William Yaw Owusu and Adam Coe