President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Government has pledged to assist the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, with GH¢5 million.
President Akufo-Addo made the pledge during the launch of the University of Ghana Endowment Fund on the Legon campus Monday to mark the 70th anniversary celebration of the premier tertiary institution in the country.
The money will be drawn from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
Some banks and individuals also made similar pledges, even though not to the tune of the government’s.
Founded in 1948 as University College of the Gold Coast, UG currently has 24 colleges and a student population of over 31,000 – 46 percent of who are said to be women.
Three of the five Presidents of the 4th Republic – Professor John Evans Atta Mills, John Dramani Mahama and the President Akufo-Addo – were all products of the school.
Delivering the keynote address, President Akufo-Addo lauded the premier university for producing excellent and world-class human resources for the development of the nation and the world at large.
He said the university continues to be a pacesetter in scientific research and technological innovations which have been addressing the many challenges that confront the nation.
The president recounted the key role that his own uncle, the late Dr. J B. Danquah (severally described as the Doyen of Ghanaian politics), played in the establishment of the university.
“Seventy years in the life of an institution is no mean feat; from a modest beginning in 1948, the University College of Gold Coast, as it was known, has evolved into one of the leading universities,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the diversity of UG’s research efforts and the potency of its various disciplines – social and natural sciences, medicine, agriculture, environment and energy – are internationally acclaimed.
For this reason, the president said it is imperative and commendable that the university establishes an endowment fund in its 70th year to provide additional funding and resources to enable it to deliver on its core mandate.
