General News of Saturday, 27 October 2018
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
2018-10-27
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)
President of University Teachers Association (UTAG) at the University of Ghana (UG) Legon, Dr. Harry Agbenu, has described the dissolution of the Council for the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), as “completely crazy’’.
In an interview with Kwabena Agyapong on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he said, members of UTAG and individuals who understand the workings of universities are against the dissolution.
He believes it is a poor way of handling issues by “this particular government when it comes to education issues’’.
Universities he explained have internal mechanisms and government should have allowed KNUST to manage the issue internally instead of breaching laid down rules by dissolving the council.
The school he noted should have used its internal structures but to go outside these structures is ‘‘unfortunate’’ and ”completely crazy”.
He is wondering why the council was dissolved and an interim one formed excluding the Vice Chancellor adding, what is being done is political perpetuation.
Dr. Harry Agbenu went on to state that, if the situation were not stopped, the next university to suffer the unprecedented incident would be the University of Ghana. He said, the incident is ‘’terrible and if we don’t take care, our universities will come crumpling down’’.
The ruling government he said is currently using dubious means to remove from office managers of our universities who are seen to be associated with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“This is serious and known everywhere that, what happened in Winneba was political interference and if we allow what is happening to continue, the next university will be the University of Ghana,’’ he added.
“Why should a so-called government go into a situation like this and dissolve the council of KNUST? He alleged further that, some of the demonstrators who vandalised property on campus were bused from Accra and other locations and they include political activists.
According to him, it is completely crazy for the country to experience this in the educational sector and has warned that, if the decision “is not reversed, politicians would have to be employed to lecture students.