NDC running mate demands suspension & total revocation of the Public University Bill

Prof Opoku-Agyemang has renewed calls demanding the suspension and total revocation of the Public University Bill (PUB).

The Bill has been drafted by the Akuffo Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government with an intent to pass it into law before the December 7th, 2020 elections.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang who is the Vice Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC), and the country’s first female Vice-Chancellor of a University, following her official review of the Bill, has found that it has no clear rationale.

Her professional assessment is that, in its present form, it will erode progress made over the decades by universities in Ghana and open the doors to needless political interference in the advancement of knowledge. In effect, there is no justification for modifying the bill and as such, it should be totally revoked.

“A bill that will give the President the power to appoint and fire a vice-chancellor; or allow the sector minister to give policy direction to universities which will have to be complied with; has no business being considered for passage into law,” said Prof. Opoku-Agyemang.

The NDC as a Party has already expressed very strong reservations about the PUB. The Party has stated that should the NPP pass it into law, it will revoke it when it assumes the governance of the country, when given the mandate by Ghanaians to return to office come January 2021.

The Vice-Presidential candidate of the NDC is Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and the first female Vice-Chancellor of a University in Ghana. She has also served as a Minister of Education, among her numerous internationally acknowledged credentials.