Renaming: Akufo-Addo in a hurry – Former UN advisor

A former UN adviser on governance Prof. Baffour Agyemang Duah has raised concerns over the rapidity at which President Akufo-Addo is renaming national monuments.

According to him, although it is appropriate to honour heroes of the nation, the current situation appears to be fraught with politics.

The comment comes after President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the Sunyani-based University of Energy and Natural Resources is to be named after Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia after the university’s council proposed.

“Following the decision taken by the University’s Council on August 3, 2018, the university will be named after one of the illustrious sons of the region, Professor K.A Busia after the decision had received Parliamentary approval,“ the President said.

It came barely a month after a proposal for the renaming of the Navrongo campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) after C. K. Tedam, the immediate past Chairman of the Council of Elders of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who passed on recently.

Already, another founding member of the UP tradition, the foundation of the governing NPP, Dr. Paa Grant also has a university named after him by the government.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Tuesday, Prof. Duah said there should be an independent body to who will undertake the exercise of renaming national monuments objectively.

“Since there is no independent commission making the pronouncements, it seems the approach is partisan. The President seems to be so much in a hurry in the renaming process if you ask me”.