Govt won’t interfere in public varsities - Vice-President

The government has stated that it will not interfere with the governance and operations of public universities in order to enhance academic freedom on campuses.

That, it said, would ensure the smooth functioning of governing councils and managements of public universities.

The Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who disclosed this in Kumasi last Saturday, said the government placed a high premium on academic freedom, for which reason it was committed to empowering university councils and managements to perform their statutory duties without undue political interference.

“The Ministry of Education, through the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, will continue to partner with institutions to ensure that they continue to comply with the regulations, policies and standards, and that governing councils operate within the provisions of the Statutes and Acts that govern university operations,” she said.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was addressing the climax of the 58th special congregation of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

In attendance was the Chancellor of the university, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Leader of the Kingdom of Eswatini, King Mswati III, his wife, Nontsetselelo Magongo, and the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim,

She stressed that the ministry would intervene on account of compliance but not interfere unduly with legitimate processes and operations of public universities, adding that “government’s non-interference policy means that universities will continue to be held to high standards”.

Context

The assurance comes in the wake of previous attempts by the former government to introduce the Public Universities Bill in the two previous Parliaments in 2019 and 2024, which were met with uproar by the public universities over its supposedly unfavourable content.

The Bill sought to give the government the power to appoint the majority of members of the public university councils.

It also sought to provide the procedure for the establishment of public universities, set out principles for the management of public universities, determine the procedure for financing public universities and administration, among others.

That enterprise was viewed as a deliberate effort by the then government to control public universities.

Congregation

The congregation saw the award of academic degrees to 8,161 students, made up of 3,196 undergraduates and 4,965 postgraduates.

Out of a total of 118 students who were awarded with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, 24 of them were females.

The Vice-President commended the management of KNUST for its commitment to research and development, saying “we take pride in the increasing number of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and PhD graduates produced by this institution annually”.

She urged universities to constantly share their impactful research findings with the government and players in industry at all times.

That, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said, would enable the government and industry players to undertake the needed planning and interventions towards the accelerated development of the nation for the benefit of the citizenry.

“Graduates contribute to national discourse through their research across critical sectors.

Therefore, I encourage faculty and students of all the universities to continue conducting impactful research and actively share their findings with both the government and industry to promote development,” she stressed.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the government was committed to creating a sustained resource base to support research, adding that the government was committed to operationalising the National Research Fund Act by setting up the board with an initial amount of GH¢50 million.

Upcoming anniversary

The Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, announced that the School of Medical Sciences would climax its 50th anniversary celebration on October 3, 2025 on the theme: “a glance at the past; a glimpse into the future”.

As part of the celebration, she stated that the school would unveil the construction of a four-storey medical training facility at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and called on the alumni to support the execution of the project.

She said management of the university would continue to ensure the undertaking of more research, and announced that the university had received $8.2 million grant to find solutions to some of the problems confronting the country and beyond through research.

Particularly, she mentioned Prof. Stephen Fred Sarfo of the Department of Medicine who won $771,000 to undertake a project to address hypertension care in Africa, while Prof. George M. Bob-Milliar of the Department of History and Political Science won $578,000 for a project on multiple water slips in urban Ghana.

Writer’s email; gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh.