The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has threatened to strike in the next two weeks if the government set up governing councils for the various public universities across the country.
Members of the Association say they are not happy at the slow pace attitude adopted by the Akufo-Addo administration in putting in place the councils, six months after taking over the governance of the country.
President of UTAG, Dr Harry Agbenu said “It is unacceptable that for six good months none of our public universities has a council. Several efforts have been made, we have contacted the Minister of Education, NCT on the havoc that the absence of the councils are causing to the universities.
However, he said it is unfortunate that there is still no information as to when the councils will be reconstituted.
“To even make the matters worse the universities are ready to graduate their students; the universities are in a fixed as to what to do, and we have given the government an ultimatum of two weeks after which we will take our protest a bit higher” he hinted.
UTAG has again threatened to take on the government should it implement the university remittance policy which mandates the universities to remit 34 per cent of internally generated funds.
“We are going to take them on, we will not sit down for anything like that to happen, but if the government insists then the government may have to go to court to test whether the universities are supposed to generate fund for the government” Dr. Agbenu said
He added: “It is even a shock to us that government is demanding 34 per cent of internally generated funds, so the universities are now to generate funds for government instead of the government funding the universities,”
Meanwhile, the Winneba High Court has refused an application by the UTAG to join a suit involving the University of Education Winneba and a former Donkoryiem assemblyman, Supi Kwayera.
The University’s branch of UTAG asked the court to allow them to join the suit because they believe they have an interest in the case in the sense that its outcome would affect them.
The University of Education, Winneba is in a legal battle with Supi Kwayera over claims that the tenure of the University’s governing council has expired.
The substantive case would be heard on the 14th July 2017.
Meanwhile the local secretary of UTAG, Dr Samuel Asemtono has said they will seek legal advice from their lawyers on the way forward.
“UTAG is not happy with the ruling but as I said, largely, the decision lays in the judge’s bosom to decide but UTAG is not happy and we will talk with our lawyers to think of our next line of action” he stated.
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