Otumfuo to set up 5-member c’ttee to probe KNUST impasse
The Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology [KNUST], the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has announced that a five-member committee will soon be set up to carry out a thorough and transparent inquiry into the recent happenings that led to the closure of the University.
“A full and transparent inquiry must be set up into all the circumstances leading to the day of horrors. As Chancellor of the University and in line with the understanding by which government mandated me to manage this process, I should with appropriate consultation appoint a five-man committee to be headed by a Judge to probe both the remote and immediate causes, and the lessons to be learnt thereof,” Otumfuo Osei Tutu said.
The Committee, which will be headed by a Judge will be mandated to probe remote and immediate causes of the disturbances at the University.
He says no group will be allowed to dictate and conduct itself in a way that undermines the integrity of the management of the University.
The Otumfuo, who made the remarks after the swearing in of new members on the University’s Governing Council today, Tuesday, says defiance and disorder by students, alumni or any group within the University will not be tolerated.
“Nothing should be done to hamstring the council from neither discharging their duty to develop the policies for the running of the University in accordance with its statutes, nor encourage students to feel they have the right to defy authority or cherry pick rules they choose to obey.
“Yes, a university is nothing if not a hotbed of free expression, and the penchant for rigorous debate, must be one of the intrinsic values we inculcate in our students. But defiance and disorder can never be part of those values and it should be abundantly clear that neither students or alumni or any group in the University shall be allowed to dictate or conduct itself in a manner that undermines the integrity of management.”
Education Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, while swearing in new members of the Council, tasked them to work closely with the University’s management to preserve the image of the University.
He warned that students found culpable will face the consequences.
The six new members who were sworn in are; Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, Nana Effah Apenteng, Alex Quaynor and Hilda Hagar Ampadu.
The other members are; Steve Anoff Amoaning-Yankson and Alhaji Yakub A.B. Abubakar.
The reconstitution of the council delayed after the KNUST-chapter of UTAG, TEWU and the Senior Staff Association refused to replace its members from the dissolved council after the University was closed down and the main council dissolved.
The unions were eventually allowed to maintain their members on the council.
The school is to be reopened this Friday, November 16, 2018.
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source: citinewsroom