University of Ghana officials to hunt down Kofi Annan’s hecklers

Some students of the hall during a recent hall week celebration Authorities at the University of Ghana are angry at what they term unruly behaviour of students of the Commonwealth Hall who are alleged to have heckled former UN boss, Kofi Annan, during their last graduation ceremony, two weeks ago. The students heckled the former UN Secretary General, who is also Chancellor of the University, and chanted songs in his face. He suffered this along with his guests. Other parents and guests of graduands also suffered a similar ordeal from the Commonwealth Hall students. Authorities say the students’ behavior tarnished the image of the university and those found to have done so will be punished appropriately. Stella Amoah, Acting Director of Public Affairs at the university, tells Joy News they are humiliated by the occurrence and will punish all those found to have taken part. “We have had a lot of student misbehaviour in the past. Sometimes it is considered as frivolous or even out of mischief but not this one. This time, they carried their acts too far and caused a great deal of embarrassment to the motto of the university. The students came out in a very shamelessly bold attitude in the full glare of the Chancellor, His Excellency Kofi Annan to disgrace the university,” she said. “Investigations are going to be carried out and once we find who the culprits are, the university will deal with them in the way that [follows our disciplinary processes].” The University of Ghana which prides itself as Ghana’s premier tertiary institution has, over the years, had to deal with several cases of misbehavior by students. Cases of examination malpractices have been handled swiftly and the university has vowed to tackle the latest incident with the same approach. Perhaps the Commonwealth Hall students, also known as the Vandals, have the university’s biggest headache in its exercise of discipline. The mainly men hall of residence has a shrine which a few rowdy students chant war songs at. The songs, a mainly their own rendition of popular gospel songs, are sung amid loud claps and feat thumps. Source: Joy News/Ghana

KNUST, Deputy Registrar Convicted Of Contempt

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and its Deputy Registrar in charge of Legal and Welfare, Mr Richard Appiah-Kubi, have been convicted for contempt in a case in which two second-year Law students challenged their dismissal from the university for alleged examination malpractice.

The Kumasi High Court, presided over by Mr Justice G.H.K. Debrah, which convicted them, made a number of orders against the university and the deputy registrar which should be carried out within one week.

Among the orders were the payment of GH¢1,000 into government chest and the withdrawal of an advertisement on the dismissal of the students, Messrs Alfred Obeng Boateng and Ato Kwamena Sam Ghartey.

The court said the withdrawal of the advertisement would correct the impression that the students had been dismissed from the university.

Again, the court asked the KNUST and the deputy registrar to apologise to the bench and undertake not to repeat their behaviour again.

In 2007, the KNUST dismissed the two students for allegedly engaging in examination malpractice. The students did not take kindly to their dismissal and sought redress at the court.

The court upheld their application and consequently declared their dismissal illegal. However, the university refused to re-admit them to continue with their programmes of study and went ahead to place newspaper advertisements to the effect that the students remained dismissed, in spite of the court ruling.

Consequently, the aggrieved students filed an application for contempt against the KNUST and the deputy registrar, which was upheld by the court.

Source:Daily Graphic

Ghana: KNUST Rated Best university In Ghana

The latest world universities ranking on the web has placed the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as the best in Ghana and 30th in Africa.

A copy of the rankings made available to the Daily Graphic at the inauguration of the Council of the KNUST in Kumasi had the University of Ghana coming second in Ghana and 50th in Africa

The "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities" is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Laboratory, a research group belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigations Científicas (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.

The CSIC, which is among the first basic research organisations in Europe, is attached to the Ministry of Education of that country.

Commenting on the latest placing, the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, said the university had over the years carried itself with excellence in the fields of science and technology and was determined to go the extra mile to achieve more in its activities.

Mr Paul Victor Obeng, a former Presidential Advisor on Governmental Affairs in the first NDC administration, chairs the 19-member council, which was sworn in by the Supervising High Court Judge of Kumasi, Mr Justice Frank Amoah.

Prof. Adarkwa said even though KNUST continued to make strides in educational development, it also continued to encounter challenges, which demanded support to address.

For instance, the Vice Chancellor said whereas about GH¢23.6 million was needed to complete 15 ongoing projects on campus, only GH¢2.9 million was released this year for the projects.

The university, he said, needed to modernise its laboratories, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres, among other projects, to enhance teaching and learning.

Prof. Adarkwa stated that from the developments, it would be necessary for the university to privatise some of its activities and also enter into partnerships to ensure that various projects and programmes were undertaken without much difficulty.

In spite of the challenges, he said the university administration would not rest on its laurels but put in extra efforts to attain successes for the university.

Mr Obeng said being a council member was to serve and not to be served. It was, therefore, important for the members to avoid personal interests and work towards the uplift of the KNUST.

He paid tribute to his predecessor, Nana Otuo Siribuo, for the great work he did and pledged to continue with it.

Mr Obeng acknowledged the challenges facing the university and said “we are here to respond to these challenges but not to mourn over them or needlessly pass the buck”.

“In doing so we have to remember that there are additional human capital resources outside the council, management and the immediate university community. We should recognise this pool of resources as we embark on this journey,” he said.

He thanked the appointing authorities for the confidence reposed in his team.

Story : Kwame Asare Boadu/graphicghana

GHANA: KNUST turns away two-thirds of applicants

Education Minister, Alex Tettey-Enyo Only one-third of applicants who applied to enter the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for the 2009-2010 academic year were offered admission due to inadequate lecturers and facilities. Authorities are worried about the situation but say the trend is likely to continue for some time as funds are not in sight to help reverse the situation. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Kwafo Adarkwah says already the lecturer/student ratio is way beyond the university’s own standards. He laments that despite a large tract of land available for expansion to meet the growing number of prospective students the university is constrained by funding. He told Luv FM in Kumasi that the university was liaising with other private universities to stem the tide. As part of these efforts the university has entered into an agreement with Ghana Telecom and Data Link universities to absorb some of the applicants. According to Prof. Adarkwa, another agreement which will see the campus of the Ghana Law School established on the KNUST campus to solve the perennial quota system has been reached. Story by Elton John Brobbey/Luv FM/Kumasi