General News of Monday, 7 May 2012

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Rastas are abnormal, says university administrator

The administrator of Valley View University, Mr Okyere Darko, has declared that Rastafarians are abnormal people and are therefore not welcomed or admitted into the university no matter how qualified they are academically.

The administrator made the declaration on the Boiling Pot segment of the award-winning Taxi Driver reggae show hosted by Blakk Rasta.

Mr. Okyere Darko was reacting to comments by the Minister of Employment, Moses Asaga, that private universities in Ghana are responsible for graduate unemployment in the country since they admit unqualified undergraduates and churn out low quality graduates.

Mr Okyere Darko believed the Minister did not do his research well and must therefore come again.

He pleaded with the Education Ministry to allow the university to admit a few more “unqualified” students because “they will be trained anyway.”

He, however, vehemently opposed the idea of allowing the most qualified Rasta into the university as the university views them as abnormal. Even though no Rastafarian is known to have attempted seeking admission in the university, Mr Okyere Darko affirms that none of them stands a chance anyway.

Recently, Rastafarians in Ghana have frequently opined that their faith is being disregarded and disrespected. The Rastafari Council of Ghana has complained about this several times and promised a radical approach to tackling this issue.

Valley View university is one university in Ghana that does not tolerate mini-skirt or trouser-wearing by female students. This, Mr Darko said, is to prevent sexually immoral acts amongst female students and also make them look unattractive to the men.

Another private school, Emmanuel Presby School at Kasoa, a month ago boldly went to town on Taxi Driver with the announcement that they do only admit dreadlocked people if they agree to shave their hair. The Ministry Of Education condemned this but never followed up with any action.

Valley View university, located on the Accra - Dodowa road, incidentally is the only private university in Ghana that is not affiliated to any university.