Thirty-eighth NUGS congress to be held in Kumasi

Kumasi, Aug. 25, GNA - The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) will hold its 38th Annual Delegates Congress at the Saint Louis Training College in Kumasi from September 1-5, 2004.

Mr Divine Selasie Sikanku, Chairman of the Planning Committee said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, will be the special guest of honour.

The five-day congress, which is on the theme: "Funding Education In Ghana -The Role Of The GETFund" will be addressed by Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports and Mr Fosuaba Mensah Banahene, Administrator of the GETFund.

Mr Sikanku said new national officers would be elected to fill the vacant positions in the union.

He said already seven students had filed their nominations to contest the presidency.

They are Alhassan Farihan of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Thomas Kofi Ablor, University of Education, Winneba, Michael Gyasi, University of Ghana, Legon and Abu Forgor, University of Education Winneba.

The rest are Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa of the University of Ghana, Abdul-Rahman Suleman, University of Ghana and Edmund Benjamin Addy, Academy of Business Administration, Accra.

The leadership of the union will also endorse the nomination of Ibrahim Mutala Ahmed to contest for the deputy general secretary position at the All African Students Union (AASU) in South Africa in December 2004.

According to the outgoing NUGS President, Mr Kenneth Abotsi, all political parties have been served with letters to present a paper on how they would fund and make education accessible to Ghanaians. He said there would also be series of fora on the GETFund, SSNIT, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), water, and national identification card among others.

The recent upward adjustment of fees at the public universities will be discussed during their central committee meeting.