KNUST Crisis Beyond The University Council – Mathew Opoku Prempeh
A high-powered government delegation has failed to reach a definite consensus with the management and students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where a peaceful protest on Monday turned violent.
The delegation, led by the Education Minister Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh held two separate meetings with the parties in the impasse – the students represented by the Student Representative Council and the University Management led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Obiri Danso.
Also in both meetings which lasted close to six hours were members of the Regional Security Council and the National Security Minister Kan Dapaah.
A peaceful protest of some recent decisions of the university management turned violent Monday morning on the campus in Kumasi, forcing the Regional Security Council to shut down the school indefinitely.
The students did not understand why some of their colleagues were manhandled by the university security last weekend during a vigil organised against the university authorities’ decision banning all “morale nights”
Some people have condemned the university students for their Monday action which caused destruction to both private and university property.
Sources close to the parties told 3news.com that footage of the Monday violent incident were shown to the delegation which is set to visit the University’s campus Wednesday morning to assess the situation and get firsthand information.
Education Minister, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, told journalists after the meeting that the current crisis is beyond the ambit of the University’s Council.
Crisis beyond the University Council
“We have met the university management, we have met the Security Council and we have met the students. We’re going to collate our views and you will hear from government,” he said.
Minister of Information designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah explained the situation demands higher interventions.
“We have been engaging with various stakeholders, the university authorities, council representatives, student representatives, to understand what has happened. You know ordinarily the university is semi-autonomous and they handle their own affairs but it’s become obvious that these matters have not been contained at that level so now there is the need for high level intervention,” he stated.
He said the first work of the delegation was than hence will move to the University campus Wednesday after which President will later be briefed before further decisions could be made.
“We have finish our first level consultations, we are going to the campus to see and engage for ourselves and then we will report to the president and once clear decisions are made we will report to you where we are going with that,” Mr. Oppon-Nkrumah said.
Source: 3news
