Okudzeto is lying - NUGS

Executives of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) say it has not consented to any cost sharing arrangement between government and students in respect of payment of utility bills at the nation’s tertiary institutions, as has been alleged by Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Education Minister, in-charge of Tertiary.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to once again state emphatically that NUGS has NOT consented to any communiqué that involves levying the cost of utility bills on students. In fact, we are yet to see the final resolution or communiqué of the stakeholder meeting held on 25th March at the UPSA Auditorium.

“We, therefore, find it disingenuous that Ablakwa continuously makes reference to this communiqué that nobody but himself has seen. Why hasn’t it been issued to the media as agreed upon?

“Obviously, a communiqué cannot be a secret document and we demand to see it NOW and NOW. We have had enough of this political gymnastics and merry-go-round”, NUGS noted.

In a two page strongly worded letter signed by Iddi Muhayu-deen, General Secretary of NUGS and Rhodalyn Eshun, Press and Info Secretary, the students’ body said the Deputy Education Minister did not tell the truth about the cost sharing arrangement.

The letter stated; “In setting the records straight, we wish to begin by stating unequivocally that the claims by Okudzeto Ablakwa are factually incorrect, spurious, and as such should be disregarded by all.

“We are by this release, DARING Hon. Ablakwa to make public the said communiqué he claims forms the basis for government’s decision to partially withdraw utility subsidies to be borne by students, which was reached at the end of a stakeholder meeting.

“If Hon. Ablakwa fails to produce that communiqué, which he claims received the endorsement of NUGS (or its rep), then he should not only desist from making such claims, but should also retract and render an unqualified apology to the leadership of NUGS for this unwarranted disservice. If he fails to do either, we shall advise ourselves”.

The letter explained that if government has plans to withdraw utility subsidies to public tertiary institutions, it should have the political will to go ahead and let its decisions be known, rather than finding ways and means to create the impression that it is the students leaders who are calling for it.

It continued that it is very obvious that government has misgivings about the likely implications and political ramifications of what such a move could bring, hence its decision to try to play it smart by implicating the students’ leaders.

According to the letter, Hon Ablakwa first talked about the issue when he addressed students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on April 15, this year, during the second edition of his Ministry’s Campus Connect series.

Since then, the letter continued, the Deputy Education Minister had persistently commented on the alleged cost sharing arrangement between the government and the students on every platform he mounted.

This development has justifiably created a lot of fear and panic among students across the country; many of whom have vowed to take on the NUGS executive for such a gaffe. We, therefore, deem it expedient to come clean on the matter and put out the true facts, the letter observed.

The students’ leaders have, therefore, vowed to resist any attempt by government to surcharge students for utility bills. Adding: “That will not and cannot happen else the students of this country will shake the very foundation of our government with an unwavering ALUTA”.