Parents of pupils at University Basic School clash with security men over ‘Legon tolls’


Parents, who have their wards at the University Basic School located in 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 compound.

The security personnel had been ordered not to allow cars without approved University of Ghana stickers from entering 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 gates.

Although the University provided a bus to transport pupils to the University Basic school, the parents still parked their cars on the roads in protest against a-GHC400 university sticker that will give them unlimited access of the university campus.

According to them, the amount tag for the University sticker is exorbitant.

The parents also insist it is not safe for their wards to get to the school in the bus provided by the university for fear of incidence of child 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 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 GHC400-a-year road toll.

Some parents said they are willing to pay nothing more than GHC100 if the university authorities insist 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 parent from entering the campus.

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

According to the university authorities, they have decided to toll the access routes to the campus to make up for the cost incurred in rehabilitating the university roads.

  Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]

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