An Accra Human Rights Court has thrown out a suit brought against the University of Ghana (UG) by 130 parents of pupils at the University of Ghana Basic School (UGBS).
The parents were seeking a declaration that the current road user
restrictions implemented by the university was unlawful and unconstitutional.
They were also praying the court to place a perpetual injunction to restrain the university from continuing with the restrictions.
The parents had sued the university following the closure of all access
routes to its campus to the public, with the exception of the entrance from the Okponglo intersection.
The university had defended the road restrictions, arguing that the use
of the roads by the public could ‘not support academic work with the needed environment when 16,000 vehicles travel through its campus
every day, creating significant congestion at crucial times as well as
posing safety and security challenges for members of the university community, especially our students”.
Angered by the university’s decision, the parents blocked the GIMPA
access route to the institution in protest.
But the Human Rights Court, after hearing the submissions by counsels for both the parents and the university, dismissed the application to bring an end to the matter in its current form.
Prior to the court action, the parents had on May 8, this year, staged a demonstration to protest against the insistence by the authorities of the university that they (parents) acquire UG stickers before they could drive into the campus.
They complained that the GH¢400 being demanded by the UG for a sticker for a year was too exorbitant and asked the university authorities to reduce it drastically.
To register their displeasure, some of the aggrieved parents blocked the access road with their vehicles to prevent other vehicles from entering the campus.
The decision by the university led to various reactions from the public, the government, Parliament and some civil society groups.
BY Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
Email:[email protected]
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