Press Statement from Legon TESCON and TEIN

PRESS STATEMENT FROM THE TERTIARY EDUCATION STUDENTS’ CONFEDRACY OF THE NPP AND THE TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS NETWORK OF THE NDC,UNIVERSITY OF GHANA,

This Joint Press statement by the Tertiary Education Students’ Confederacy (TESCON) of the NPP and the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC is a reaction to disturbing communiqué from the office of the Registrar of the University of Ghana, Legon Dated 15th May, 2012, ostensibly placing extreme limitations on the activities of various political parties on the various Campuses of the University of Ghana.

TESCON and TEIN, Legon, calls on the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, the Dean of Students and the entire University management of the University of Ghana to as a matter of urgency reverse the directive placing a virtual ban on political activities within University of Ghana campuses and call for a stakeholders Meeting of Party representatives, the Students’ Representatives Council, Parliamentary Candidates concerned and functionaries of the various Political Parties to find ways of addressing the concerns of the University management based on which it brought forth this directive and which basically the safety and sanctity of academic work students and staff of the university.

TESCON and TEIN, Legon makes these calls because we believe that though, the University may have genuine and altruistic motives for issuing this directive, it is most undemocratic and highly misplaced.

We are of the strongest conviction that it would have been more democratic, appropriate and worthwhile for the management of the University to have engaged in proper consultations with the various Party representatives in the University, Parliamentary Candidates contesting in constituencies which include the University of Ghana campuses and the Students’ Representative Council so that we as stakeholders could have come to an amicable arrangement on how the security of students as well as the academic sanctity of students could have been preserved in the run up to the December elections.

It should be recognized that the University of Ghana with numerous campuses is very significant in terms of the numbers, almost of who are potential voters, and therefore this policy is most frustrating.

Again, the point must be made that such directives go a long way to highlight the unfortunate mentality that Politics is inevitably associated with violence and unrests, something intellectuals like us must strive to erode.

For us, this attempt by the University to gag the activities of political parties and politicians on campus is very strange especially as the University is seeking to say that political activities on campuses are recipes for chaos and violence. One would obviously want to know if political activities in the past such as rallies have had the consequence, the University management want the world to believe and if not, what the basis of the directive is then.

If anything, we have known violence to be associated more with activities such as Hall week celebrations, student elections, sporting activities etc. so one wonders why the University did not proceed to ban these activities in the first place or place equal bans on them as they have sought to do with partisan political activities.

We also find it strange the source of the directive. We do know that it is the function of the Dean of Students to sanction all meetings with respect to the venue and timing and as far as we know the Dean of students is carrying out this function effectively and smoothly; for the Registrar to be the source of this directive only points to a duplication of roles .

It saddens our heart that the University is today seeking to undermine the unarguable role of this University in grooming and serving as the breeding grounds for today’s leaders unarguable fact that these levels have served as the training grounds for most of today’s leaders including almost all the Presidential Candidates both the governing NDC and the largest opposition, the NPP.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, we as Representatives of TESCON and TEIN would want to state unequivocally that as students, we are mindful of the need for the academic sanctity to be safely guarded and we Pledge our commitment to Peaceful elections, before, during and after the December General Elections on our Campus at least but it should be stated strongly that the directive in question is most unwarranted and unfortunate especially in today’s democratic environment.

In the Unlikely event that this civil entreaty fail, we assure the Youth of Ghana and the entire Student body of the University of Ghana who are Solidly behind us that we would use all democratic and constitutional means to press home our demand since this course of action is a violation of the constitution which espouses freedom of Movement and freedom of association.

It is our hope that the university management would find wisdom in our Position.

SIGNED

KOFI ABREFA AFENA BENEDICT NUHU RASHEED

(TESCON PRESIDENT,LEGON) (TEIN PRESIDENT,LEGON)

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