I’ll scrap public universities bill come 2021

The Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has pledged to scrap the Public Universities Bill, should he be given a second term.

“I want to assure the people of Ghana and the academic community that should government proceed and pass the Bill into an Act of Parliament, I will not hesitate to initiate steps for its immediate repeal.

The former President made this commitment in his Facebook post on Sunday.

“As a matter of priority, if God willing I assume office as President in January 2021, it will be done,” excerpts of the post read.

According to the framers of the Public Universities Bill, it seeks to harmonise the finances, administration and governance structure of public universities.

The Bill, when passed, will give the government power to appoint the majority of members of the University Council.

But it has been rejected by the academia, who insists it was an attempt to crush the autonomy of public universities.

Academia’s stance

Ghana’s academia, including University Teachers Association of Ghana and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, has rejected the draft Ghana Public Universities Bill 2018, stating it gave the government too much power to interfere in the affairs of universities.

UTAG, for instance, said the draft Bill  “seeks to take back power from university management, academics and their unions and students, and place them in the hands of the President of the Republic, the Minister of Education, the NCTE and the government’s majority representatives on the university council the ultimate powers to make decisions for all public universities”.

The former President agreed with academia.

According to him, the bill, in its current form, would undermine academic innovation.

“Government must listen to the concerns of key stakeholders and withdraw the Public Universities Bill. The Bill, as it stands, does not only risk undermining academic innovation and ingenuity.

“It will also jettison decades of scholarly excellence and adversely affect Ghana’s position as the preferred destination for international scholarly collaboration,” he added.

The Public Universities Bill

The draft Bill has so far attracted wide public criticisms from many people, the Minority leading the entourage.

The Ranking Member on the Education Committee of the House, Peter Nortsu said the draft in its current form undermines the authority of universities.

Find former President Mahama’s post below