Statement
by the Old Vandals Association on current issues with respect to the discrimination
against University of Ghana students in the Commonwealth Hall and the Old
Vandals Association by the University Administration – 25th October
2023
Introduction
Good
Day, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I
am the National President of the Old Vandals Association (OVA) and I speak for
and on behalf of the Association.
Thank
you for responding to our invitation despite the short notice. We have invited you here today to brief you
on some burning issues that touch the very survival of our educational
aspirations as a people.
Ladies
and Gentlemen, before we proceed, permit us to take this opportunity to express
our sympathies to the people who have been severely hit by the floods
occasioned by the spillage of the Volta dams at Akosombo and Kpong. All Vandals across the globe share in the
plight of everyone affected and we are currently mobilising resources to make
our modest contributions towards alleviating their suffering.
Ladies
and Gentlemen, Universities are known to be the torchbearers in finding
solutions to the many challenges that confront society. Unfortunately, it is obvious that the
situation at the University of Ghana currently is the opposite. We are here to draw attention of the nation
to some of the dangerous precedents being set at that hitherto known ivory
tower, in that, if remedial actions are not taken sooner than later, it may be
too late to rescue our beloved Legon from sliding down the cliff.
Background
OVA
is a not-for-profit organisation. It is registered at the Office of the
Registrar of Companies as a public company limited by guarantee. It has as its
objects the promotion of the welfare of the Commonwealth Hall and the
development of the said Hall into a first-class residential facility, among
others. Its membership is made up of former students of the University of Ghana
who spent at least a semester of residence in the Commonwealth Hall. Our track record of contributions to the
University of Ghana in particular and the less privileged in society are legendary.
We are certainly not here to list them for want of time.
However,
a few notable landmark contributions to the University of Ghana, of which we
are proud alumni, must be given some attention. The Vandal City Annex Project
(VCAP) which, unfortunately, has stalled due to impediments placed in our way
by the present University of Ghana Administration, the vehicles donated to the
University of Ghana, the provision and maintenance of infrastructure and
utilities in the Hall, the various endowment funds set up by our members,
scholarships and awards for needy students of the University, especially residents
of the Commonwealth Hall.
Unwarranted
Attack on Commonwealth Hall and Old Vandals by the University Administration
Ladies
and Gentlemen, we hereby place on record
that the deep-seated dislike for/of the Commonwealth Hall and Vandals by the
current University Administration has no basis.
It
is public knowledge that the University of Ghana has been in the news in recent
times for all the wrong reasons relating to accommodation challenges faced by
students. As part of our efforts to ameliorate the perennial accommodation crisis
in the University, we set out to support our alma mater with the construction
of a 4,600-bed residential facility. The project which was nicknamed the Vandal
City Annex Project (VCAP) was to be undertaken in partnership with a strategic investor
and was to be completed some two years ago.
The
University leased a parcel of land for this project to OVA. As soon as the contractor mobilised resources
to commence construction, some few faculty members of the University started a
resistance movement against the construction of the facility. Indeed, we have the Vice-Chancellor on record
that she was opposed to the project and that she would do everything in her
powers to frustrate the construction of the annex by the Old Vandals
Association. This she said whilst she
was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor. We struggle to understand what could drive such holders
of respectable offices in the University to be so anti-development to such
magnitude.
The
so-called Mensah Sarbah-Commonwealth Halls rivalry
Ladies
and Gentlemen, there is a misconception
that we need to correct using this medium. We are talking about the Mensah Sarbah-Commonwealth
rivalry, so-called. Vandals (of the
Commonwealth Hall) and the Vikings (of the Mensah-Sarbah Hall) are the best of
friends on campus. This notwithstanding, we so know that, occasionally, a
misunderstanding may crop up which may result in conflict. As we speak, members
of these two halls are not at loggerheads with each other as some current
officers of the University are seeking to portray. Such narratives are just
smokescreens to serve as launchpads for unleashing a well-rehearsed agenda
against student-activism and progressive developments among students of the University.
Vikings
and Vandals have co-existed for decades, reinforcing our respective strengths
and successes. We have collaborated more
in the protection and defence of student interests than engaging in violent
activities. We, as Old Vandals, swiftly condemned in no uncertain terms the
perpetrators of the disturbances on campus in the first week of August 2022 and
implored the Ghana Police Service to do its utmost to bring the perpetrators to
book.
Attack
on the Commonwealth Hall and Old Vandals by the current University of Ghana
Administration using a new residential policy on accommodation
Ladies
and Gentlemen, in order to achieve the long-standing intention of immobilising
student-activism, the University Management introduced a policy targeted at
dismembering the Commonwealth Hall by sacking all students from the hall at the
start of the 2022/2023 academic year.
The said policy was ostensibly premised on the so-called clashes
involving students of the Commonwealth Hall and the Mensah-Sarbah Hall.
What
is most bizarre about this decision is that, as of today, there is no
conclusive evidence as to who the persons who engaged in those dastardly acts
in the first week of August 2022 were. This notwithstanding, the Hall Master,
the Senior Tutor, and students of the Commonwealth Hall have been handed
sanctions of various degrees without due process being observed. These are matters engaging the attention of
the courts currently and, at the appropriate time, we shall keep you posted on
developments.
The
Old Vandals were not spared either. Apart from being barred from entering the
Hall and its environs, the Management of the University caused the keys and
locks to the offices of OVA located in the Hall to be changed and locked us
out. It may interest you to know that the offices were assigned to OVA by the
Management of the Hall and that OVA spent a decent amount of money to refurbish
and equip same for use.
The
intervention by Parliament
The
harsh and unfair treatment of the Commonwealth Hall students and Old Vandals
received the attention of Parliament of Ghana following a statement made on the
floor of the House by the Deputy Ranking Member of the Education Committee,
Hon. Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, MP – Builsa South.
Both sides of Parliament unanimously had reason to caution the
University Administration about their arbitrariness in the making and
implementation of policies to extinct Vandals but the Administration would not
budge.
Court
action and the disrespect of the courts
As
believers in fidelity to the rule of law, we have consistently encouraged the
affected students to use the appropriate forum for settling grievances relating
to the abuse of their fundamental human rights by the University Administration. In that regard, tens of the bold ones sought
refuge in the court to intervene by safeguarding their rights and freedoms to
education in their quest to attain their educational aspirations.
In
the wisdom of the courts, an interlocutory injunction was granted the
plaintiffs and the University was retrained from throwing the students out of
the Hall at the beginning of the 2022/2023 academic year. However, very uncharacteristic of any
seasoned higher educational institution, the University authorities virtually
ignored the court order.
As
apostles and advocates of the rule of law, the affected students did the
needful by resorting to the court one more time for the enforcement of the
court order. In doing so, an application
for contempt was brought before the court against the University and its key
officers who disobeyed the court’s order to show cause as to why they should
not be punished for disobeying lawful orders of the court.
Several
applications to frustrate the hearing of the contempt application were filed by
the respondents. the courts dismissed
all the applications filed by the respondents for lacking merit. The contempt application was finally heard
after desperate attempts by the University Management to block it failed.
Judgement
was to be given on 24th July 2023 but the court was not ready so it was
adjourned to 26th October 2023 due to the legal vacation. So, we
will be back in court tomorrow for the judgement.
The
dangerous precedents set by UG under its present leadership
Brutalities
visited on students during a peaceful vigil being held in honour of a fallen
hero.
On
the night of 30th June this year, a group of students gathered
peacefully to observe a vigil in honour of one of their colleagues, the late
James Lutterodt, a Vandal and a former “National Science & Maths Quiz
Star”, whose untimely demise had deeply impacted the student community on the University
campus. This rather solemn occasion
exhibiting compassion and solidarity with the fallen hero was marred by
brutalities visited on the students at the invitation of the University Administration.
Again, we struggle to understand what the intentions of the University Administration
were by unleashing terror on students whose interests the Administration was ostensibly
expected to protect and defend.
Arrest
of 17 Students of the Commonwealth Hall
Late
last year, seventeen innocent students of the Hall were arrested and brutalised
by the Police at the invitation of the University Administration whilst they
(the innocent students) tried to enter the Hall following a court order. Some
of you were there to cover it. These students were quickly put before the court
by the Police and they were remanded for six days. Regrettably, the Police
failed to prosecute the innocent students after the court had given them
several opportunities. So, the court had no option than to strike it out for
want of prosecution. The father of one of the students collapsed upon hearing
of what his child had been put through by the Police. He died eventually. May
his soul rest in perfect peace. It happened to the innocent students yesterday.
It can happen to any one of us today!
Student
governance as a lever of democracy is virtually killed through culture of
silence
The
relevance of student leadership as incubation hub for national leaders cannot
be overemphasised. It must be echoed
right here that the future of the University of Ghana, situated at Legon – The
Hill of Knowledge – of which we are proud alumni, is threatened by the
continuous promotion of tyranny, autocracy and administrative arbitrariness at
the heart of decision-making. The voices
of students through NUGS, SRC, JCR systems that hitherto served as incubation
centres for national leaders have now been rendered moribund. As to what the motive of the current crop of
leaders at the university are, only time will tell.
The
culture of silence that virtually suppresses human rights and freedoms has
become the mainstay of the University of Ghana, rendering the atmosphere uncharacteristic
of a university establishment.
For
us Old Vandals, as alumni of the University we are so proud of, we cannot sit
on the fence to see many decades of toil that built the University of Ghana to
be destroyed by the serial administrative decisions that lack logic, reason and
good conscience to the satisfaction of the egos of people in charge of its
administration today.
Old
Vandals, as a law-abiding group, we believe in and revere the law. It is in
this spirit that we have sought refuge in the courts. Our faith in the judiciary
never wavers and we shall continue to use all legitimate tools at our disposal
to ensure the return of the rule of law to the campus of the University of
Ghana.
God
bless the Commonwealth Hall!
God
bless the Old Vandals Association!
God
bless all of us!
God
bless Ghana our Motherland!
We
thank you for your attention.
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