A student leader at the University of Ghana (UG) has dismissed the reasons offered for the increase in hostel fees as 'excuses', questioning why students should carry the burden of the school's debts.

Nasiba Abass, a graduate student and one of the organisers of the Save Our Universities movement, made the remarks in an interview with GhanaWeb's Isaac Dadzie on November 9, 2026.

She said that management had given several explanations for the increase, including maintenance, new government taxes and help to pay off some of the school's debts.

On maintenance, she said some of the facilities built in the 1990s were still in use, with some of the original furniture still in place.

'If you check some of the hostel facilities that were built in the 90s, the infrastructure is still being used. Some chairs and mattresses have not been changed to date since it was created. And I can testify to that, but they still feel they need to increase the fees every single year without making sure that even the maintenance is being done adequately,' she said.

She said the other explanations also did not hold up.

'I've had excuses about recent taxes that were introduced by government and also the other excuse that they are helping the school pay for some debts or something like that. But all of that to us are excuses, because if you say that you are paying for a debt, then how are you placing the burden of the debt on students who just came into the university?' she asked.

She asked why students should contribute to any loans taken out by the school.

'Why are we contributing to any loans or whatsoever that the school has ever taken? How does that concern us?' she said.

Nasiba also suggested that the university had the money to pay, pointing to rising student numbers.

'It's making a lot of money. There has been an increase of more than 70,000 students in this university this year alone. So that says that students are still paying. And so where is all that money going?

"If you are saying there's a debt, then why is it that you are not using the monies that you've been accumulating for all these years to pay off that debt? Why are you burdening these students to come and pay it for you?' she said.

She called on the government to step in if the university said it could not afford to run without the extra fees.

'If the case is that the school doesn't have money again, then the government should come back in. Already they are lagging behind in investing parts of their required amounts of GDP into their public education system. So they should come back in and then cushion us,' she said.

Background

University of Ghana students demonstrated on Monday, November 9, demanding the dismissal of the management of the University of Ghana Enterprises Limited (UGEL) over a 15 per cent increase in hostel fees for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The university has said UGEL's initial proposal of 26 per cent was reduced to 15 per cent for standard rooms accommodating four students after engagement with student leaders.

In a statement issued on November 8, management said it was reopening talks with the SRC, GRASAG-UG and the UGEL Board on accommodation charges.

ID/BAI