A student leader at the University of Ghana (UG) has claimed that students have been intimidated from speaking out against fee hikes and what they describe as injustices on campus.

Nasiba Abass, a graduate student at UG and one of the organisers of the Save Our Universities movement, made the claim in an interview with GhanaWeb's Isaac Dadzie, as students prepared for a demonstration over a 15 percent hike in hostel fees.

"Students have been repressed from speaking out against these injustices and these exploitation issues on campus.

'We have been approached by members of the school's management as well as school administration and some people from the security services of the state itself to try to dissuade us from speaking out against the challenges we are facing," she stated.

She said this was the reason the demonstration, first announced for last month, did not go ahead as planned.

"We announced earlier that we would have had the demonstration last month. However, because of certain attempts to dissuade us, the demonstration was delayed, but then we insisted on going on with it nonetheless. Even if it's just a few students who come out on the grounds, we insisted on going ahead with it to assert our academic freedom," she said.

Nasiba explained that the protest is about more than the fee increase but mismanagement of hotel funds and the increasing privatisation of the management of the University of Ghana hostels.

"We took it upon ourselves as ordinary students to speak out against what's going on. It is not limited to the fee hike per se, but it is broad and it expands into questions of mismanagement, poor funding in the public institutions, the increased privatisation of education and commodification of accommodation facilities, and most importantly, academic freedom,' she said.

She added that academic freedom, to her, includes the right to speak out against injustices on campus and to demand increased government funding for public institutions.

She also noted that the concerns are not limited to UG, saying fee hikes have been reported at universities across the country.

Background

Students of the University of Ghana demonstrated on Monday, November 9, demanding the dismissal of the management of the University of Ghana Enterprises Limited (UGEL) over the 15 percent hike in hostel fees for the 2026/2027 academic year.

They said the increase was introduced without adequate consultation and without improvements in accommodation to justify it.

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

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

The Rent Control Department has also directed UGEL and private hostel operators to suspend unassessed rent increases and to refund excess payments by November 17, 2026.

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