WE'VE NEVER CALLED FOR VC'S SACK-KNUST SRC

  The Students Representatives Council, SRC, of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST,  says it has never been part of its concerns that the Vice Chancellor, Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso, be sacked by government. In a statement, the official and legitimate mouthpiece of students of Ghana's premier science and technology university emphasized 'we also want to reiterate that the cause of this impasse remains students brutality and not Hall conversion as the media and some others want to make it. And it is not the official position of the SRC and students that the Vice Chancellor be removed. All we want was the issues raised to be addressed and they have been duly addressed and as such, all we seek is for things to be restored to normalcy for academic work to resume' the SRC President Kelvin Sah stressed in a two-paged statement to the media hours before government dissolved governing Council of the KNUST on Thursday, October 25, 2018 afternoon.

 The statement affirmed that the KNUST SRC still has, as its main focus ensuring that all students are safe and in good state to be educated in freedom. The statement said, in light of recent events that transpired on campus, the SRC in its continued pursuit of a lasting solution to the impasse between students and the University management, had engaged the Prof. Obiri Danso management during which the following decisions were reached to the satisfaction of the students body; the restoration of previous Halls or College Week celebration to be organized separately, regular open fora to receive students concerns while students will henceforth be treated with dignity and respect by which unnecessary harassment in their residential lives from any quarters to be promptly attended to. The university’s management has agreed also to reverse its decision to consolidate all student Association Accounts, complete lift of the ban on Morale, a regular social entertainment events for students as well as accommodate Unity and University Halls Executives and recognizing them as Constitutionally elected leaders.

The SRC notes also that, the University management has agreed also to ensure students brutalities by the internal security officials do not re-occur so as to protect students on campus and also re-orient security personnel while properly defining their remits and roles. The statement asked the university to provide medical care for the brutalized students. The SRC assured that, going forward, the university be re-conciliatory rather than adopt punitive sanctions against the students adding that the ultimate target should be to heal and reconcile the factions involved in the dispute. 

The statement reminded all students that the university is theirs also for which they should play an active role to protect the institution, be each other’s keeper while being responsible stakeholders. 

The students body thanked the university’s management for its cooperation, listening and making efforts at addressing their concerns and hoped that the new path of mutual respect is sustained.  They are therefore calling on government and the Regional Security Council to as soon as possible re-open the university for academic work to resume.