NUGS protests over USD impasse

Accra, Feb. 26, GNA - The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) on Thursday threatened to undertake demonstrations, if by March 2, 2009 nothing was done about the re-opening of the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) and reinstatement of the two suspended student leaders.

Mr. Ishmael Tweneboa-Kodua, President of NUGS was speaking at a press conference in Accra on the standoff between students and management of UDS over the suspension of two student leaders by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Kaku Sagari Nokoe. He said Mr. Naab Alphonse, the Central President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of UDS and the Secretary were suspended from their positions for granting "unauthorized radio interviews" to the media and allegedly using "abusive language".

He questioned why Mr. Alphonse and his colleague were being punished for exercising their right to free expression when Article 21(1) of the country's constitution said all persons shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.

Mr Tweneboa-Kodua said conditions at UDS were not only inhuman but shameful because lecture theatres with seating capacity of over 2,000 were without public address system and also students had to scramble to get places to perch in a poorly managed bus shuttle. He alleged that while the average Ghanaian paid GH¢ 7.20 to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme, UDS students were made to pay GH¢ 40. What was even worse was that after making their payments they never got their ID cards to enable them to access health care. He said after persistent complaints from the SRC to the UDS authorities, the students were being blamed for using foul language and as such hounded out of office.

He said the letter suspending Mr Alphonse also asked the Dean of the Integrated Development Studies (IDS) faculty to appoint somebody to act in his (Alphonse's) stead. Mr Tweneboa-Kodua also said on February 17, at a meeting with authorities of the Education Ministry and some Parliamentarians, it was agreed that the two parties would reverse their earlier decisions and return the campus to normalcy within 48 hours. He said however while the students showed good faith by going back to lectures long before the 48 hours, the management never fulfilled its part.