Gbevlo should’ve been reprimanded over tollbooth demolition – Aryeetey

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana Prof. Ernest Aryeetey feels the former national security coordinator Gbevlo Lartey should have been reprimanded over the university’s tollbooth destruction.

Lt. Col. Lartey led a group of armed personnel together with a bulldozer operator to demolish a tollbooth erected by the University, having described it as a public nuisance. The situation led to a rather protracted fracas between government, the national security, ministries of education and roads and highways.

However, the rift was resolved after a meeting with all stakeholders and the premier university was ordered to halt the project.

Speaking about the issue on Starr Chat with Bola Ray on Starr 103.5 FM, Wednesday, Prof. Aryeetey said: “I would have been happy if he [Gbevlo] had [been reprimanded].”

The economist stressed that he was “disappointed in the system that allowed it to happen. If something was done and the process was not proper you correct it.”

He added: “To stop a university from doing something that was lawful and sensible is unacceptable. If we had been allowed to do what was lawful we would have raised a lot of money instead of burdening the students.”

Biography

Prof. Aryeetey was born on October 19, 1955 in Kumasi in the Ashanti region. He was educated at Achimota School (1968-1973) and at the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, Legon (1973-1975).

He studied Economics with Statistics (1975-1978) at the University of Ghana and took a Masters degree in Regional Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (1979-1981). He obtained a PhD from the University of Dortmund, Germany in 1985.

His area of specialisation is Development Economics. He was elected Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor, he was a Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. He was also Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Legon for the period February 2003 – January 2010.