Apologise for invading UG campus – UTAG to National Security Minister

The University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG UTAG) is demanding an apology from the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah, for some activities of his personnel on campus.

National Security Personnel were on the University of Ghana campus, on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, to police the just ended Student Representative Council (SRC) election.

This action, according to the leadership of UG UTAG, constitutes an intrusion without prior consent or authorization of the management of the university.

Again, leadership posited that the activities of National Security have violated the rights of not only the students but academics and staff who together constitute the academic community.

They, therefore, condemned the actions of the security personal noting that they take “serious exception to the intrusion and strongly condemns it as a blatant move to undermine academic freedom and the right of students to freely exercise their democratic choice”.

“We unequivocally assert our right to academic freedom as provided under the 1992 Constitution and invite the Minister for National Security to provide an explanation and apology for this infringement”, the UG branch of UTAG stated.

They added that students have the right to conduct their elections and select those who must lead them, and the universities have their own internal security arrangements that competently oversees such processes.

Following some online media reports that some University spokespersons have accepted and justified the intrusion the UG UTAG responded as follows: Any official of the University who may have granted an interview to suggest a justification of such intrusion by the National Security may have misspoken.

Quoting Article 14 of the Kampala Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility, they argued that “the State shall not deploy any military, paramilitary, security, intelligence, or any like forces within the premises and grounds of institutions of education.”