I challenge anyone to show me one good thing about Public Universities Bill – Prof Atuguba
An Associate Professor and Dean of the University of Ghana law school, Raymond Atuguba, has thrown a challenge to anyone willing to publicly point out a single good thing that the Public Universities Bill will bring to the academia.
Prof Atuguba told GhanaWeb in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, that after reading all 51 clauses of the Bill, he is convinced that the Bill, if operationalised, will spell doom for academic freedom in Ghana.
The respected law professor had earlier indicated in an article to members of the University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) that government is determined to pass the bill very soon despite the resistance from the academia.
Prof Atuguba threatens to lead impeachment against UTAG leaders over Public Universities Bill
Respected law professor, Raymond Atuguba, has written a strongly-worded letter to his colleagues at the University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) about the need to intensify resistance against the controversial Public Universities Bill (PUB).
According to Raymond Atuguba, who is an Associate Professor and Dean, School of Law of the University of Ghana, reliable information he has received suggests that the bill could be passed into law in the next 24 to 72 hours, or sooner.
“Unless UTAG (local and national) are able to work through the night today [Thursday, December 16, 2020], to provide a ROADMAP by tomorrow morning, establishing a clear PATHWAY for stopping the passage of the PUB, I will be in the lead to ensure their impeachment and more.
Graphic Online
BY: Nana Konadu Agyeman
705
Parliament has suspended the plenary consideration of the new Public Education Bill, 2020, to allow the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and other stakeholders in the academia to study and make inputs into the Bill.
The suspension will also allow UTAG and the stakeholders such as the Students Representative Council (SRC) to assess whether the previous inputs they made into the Bill had been incorporated or not.
They are to submit their concerns to the Education Committee of Parliament by Tuesday, December 22, 2020 after which the Bill will be considered at the Plenary prior to its passage.
UTAG asks members to calm down as parliament suspends PUB All processes leading to the passage of the Public Universities Bills (PUB) has been suspended. This follows a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) with the Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Wednesday, 16 December 2020. In a statement issued by UTAG and co-signed by its National President, Prof Charles Marfo and its National Secretary, Dr Eric K.K. Abavare, the association of university lecturers stated that the meeting was held to “express our disgust with the rush in sending the bill to Parliament without completing the agreed stakeholder engagements”.
705
The controversial Public University Bill, 2020 is back to Parliament, and it was read for the second time yesterday.
The Bill is to provide for the establishment, governance arrangements and management of a public university in the country.
It is made up of 56 clauses and five sections and was laid in Parliament by the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, on November 3, 2020.
The Speaker referred it to the Committee on Education for consideration, during which the members of the committee met and discussed and submitted the report to the House.
The original Bill was reportedly withdrawn after the Minority had kicked against certain provisions in it which stakeholders had claimed would undermine the autonomy and academic freedom of public universities in Ghana.