Offer constructive criticism not cynicism – Prof Gyampo tells Senyo Hosi

A Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof Ransford Yaw Gyampo, has urged the Chief Executive Officer of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Kwesi Hosi, to criticize constructively and not to be cynical in his quest to point out challenges of the premier university in Ghana.

According to him, the University of Ghana was ranked in 2018 by the Webometrics Ranking as the 16th best university in West Africa and ahead of all universities in Ghana.

“There may be challenges with all public universities in Ghana which include the University of Ghana, therefore in trying to point out these challenges one will have to be able to draw a line of demarcation between constructive criticism and cynicism,” he said.

“Constructive criticism is criticizing and offering alternatives whereas cynics are a group of itinerant political philosophers who subject everything that they come across to annihilating comments that seek to destroy,” he explained on Joy News’ PM Express.

Prof Gyampo noted that at the University of Ghana, academics are not immune to criticism but when the criticism degenerates to cynicism, it becomes very problematic and he cannot tolerate that, not even from an alumnus such as Senyo Hosi.

Meanwhile, the University of Ghana Chapter of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) has called on the management of the University to probe the certificates of Senyo Hosi.

The President of GRASAG Chris Atadika in an interview on an Accra based Starr FM said, Mr Hosi’s statements were rude and unfortunate and that the acquisition of his certificates must be investigated after questioning its credibility.

“His claims of teaching assistants doing research work for students, there are no facts to prove that. Maybe he got his certificate through that.

According to the statutes of the University, certificates of such students must be revoked. Investigations must go into how he acquired his certificates,” Atadika stated.

Senyo Hosi, at University of Ghana’s event marking its 70th anniversary, described the management and lecturers of the school as incompetent people who do not think and end up training mediocre graduates. 

“What do you churn out?” he asked. “You’re churning out people with degrees; not people with education. Not people with skills on how to live. That is the problem. And respectfully, the old men running this school, they are too many. Get them out!......I have three degrees; all from the University of Ghana. I won’t hire anybody [from here]. It’s simple and it’s a matter of substance…. Your MBA people, I won’t hire. How many T.As [Teaching Assistants] haven’t written people’s thesis?” a visibly furious Hosi remarked.

“You must make people cease wanting to come for a degree. [You must make people] wanting to come for education and certain skills that make them viable in the future. Your children don’t have skills that make them viable for the future. They don’t have the thinking; they are robots. Even that robot, they can’t do it,” Senyo Hosi continued.

Mr Hosi believed the event wouldn’t have had a miserable turn out if management thought through its planning and execution. The university’s failure to do the needful attracted a jab as he described the intuition as mediocre.