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The running mate of the New Democratic Congress (NDC) standard-bearer, Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang has renewed calls demanding the suspension and total repeal of the Public Universities Bill (PUB).
The former Minister of Education stated that the bill drafted by the Akuffo-Addo government intends to make it law before the 2020 elections.
He said that after his evaluation, he revealed that the bill will erode the progress made over the years by Ghanaian universities and open the doors to unnecessary political interference in the advancement of knowledge.
The University Professors Association of Ghana (UTAG) has strongly opposed the passage of the controversial bill.
The bill seeks to harmonize the governance, administration and accountability structures of public universities.
But after carefully reading the bill, UTAG has said that it “does not know the rationale for the enactment of the legislation.”
“After careful clause-by-clause analysis of the bill, the passing of the bill in its current form will create more problems for the functioning of universities than they seek to solve,” UTAG said in a statement.
One of UTAG’s main concerns is that the bill seeks to restrict academic freedom as set out in the 1992 Ghana Constitution.
These freedoms, says UTAG, “thrive on the pillars of institutional autonomy, self-government, individual rights and freedoms of academics and students, and permanence of academics.”
Adding her voice to those calls, Professor Opoku-Agyemang said: “A bill that will give the president the power to appoint and fire a vice chancellor or allow the minister of the sector to give political direction to the universities to be followed; it does not have to be considered for approval as law. “
According to her, there is no justification for modifying the bill, so it must be totally repealed.
The NDC Party has stated that if the PNP passes the PUB into law, it will revoke the bill when it assumes governance of the country.
