President Atta Mills would have been adjudged the best dancer among past Presidents in the history of Ghana if yesterday’s sod-cutting ceremony for the commencement of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Ho were a dancing competition.
With majestic and careful steps, President Mills raised the excitement of the mammoth crowd that thronged the ‘Green Valley’ site of the proposed university as he performed the Zigi cultural dance.
The people could not hold their happiness as they watched the number one citizen do his own thing on the floor. Later, President Mills told the people that his government, after two years of being on the drawing board, had given meaning to the NDC’s manifesto pledge of adding two more public universities to the existing five.
“As part of our ‘Better Ghana Agenda,’ we pledged to establish the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in the Volta Region and University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in the Brong Ahafo Region, to increase access to tertiary education,” he said.
He said for those who doubted that such a day would ever come, the ceremony and the commencement of work should be ample testimony that the NDC government was committed to making good its promises to the people of Ghana.
President Mills noted that against the background of growing demand for human resources and technology, there was the need to build a highly skilled and mobile scientific workforce for the future. It was in that direction that the university had been established.
The various units of the University, he explained, would be established in phases for the efficient utilization of resources and maintenance of high academic standards.
The first phase will involve the establishment of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, School of Sports and Exercise.
The second phase will involve the establishment of a School of Dentistry and Pharmacy which will be located in Ho. The Schools of Public Health, Allied Health Sciences, Traditional and Alternative Medicine and Faculty of Biomedical Sciences will be located in Hohoe. The Institute of Medical Education and Institute of Health Research will also be in Hohoe.
The President also announced that government was working to secure funds to rebuild the Ho Sports Stadium and turn it into a Sports Complex. The Ho Regional Hospital, Hohoe District Hospital and the Onchocerciasis laboratories, the President said would be refurbished to provide office and laboratory space and classrooms to house the Faculty of Biomedical sciences.
He expressed gratitude to the people of the region for their support.
Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia, said there was the urgent need for investment in education as hat was the best strategy against the eradication of poverty.
He urged the school to produce problem-solving graduates to address the developmental challenges of the nation. He entreated the people of the region to take advantage of the university to improve upon their lives in all aspects.