TaTu students, police clash over protest
Some students of the Tamale Technical University (TaTU) yesterday staged a protest against the university’s management over alleged misappropriation of funds, neglect of student welfare and a proposed increment in school fees without justification.
The students also raised concerns over the alleged removal of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG) representatives from the fees fixing committee, as well as delays in releasing SRC funds.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Director of Finance Must Go,” “Fix TaTU Now,” “No Infrastructure,” “Fix Our Hostel,” “End Open Defecation on Campus,” and “Free Us From Petty Democratic Challenges”, the students began their protest peacefully from their hostels towards the administration block.
However, the demonstration turned chaotic after police officers deployed to the scene fired warning shots and sprayed hot water to disperse the crowd.
In retaliation, some students pelted the officers with stones and burnt car tyres in front of the administration block.
Several students sustained varying degrees of injuries during the clashes.
The protest followed a failed meeting held on Monday between the SRC, the Fees Fixing Committee and university management, which ended without resolution.
Addressing the media, the President of GRASAG at TaTU, Abdul Ganiwu Inusah, accused management of misusing Internally Generated Funds (IGF) and neglecting students’ welfare.
He called for an independent investigative committee to probe the allegations, insisting that the Ministry of Education should commission a forensic audit of TaTU’s IGF, including hostel revenues and student fee utilisation over the past five years, and that the audit should be undertaken by KPMG or a similar firm.
He further demanded that management should suspend any fee increment until the audit was completed, findings made public and service delivery gaps addressed.
Certificate release
Mr Inusah also called for the immediate release of withheld student certificates, the reopening of satellite campuses and the establishment of a well-equipped ICT laboratory to enhance teaching and learning.
For his part, the SRC Public Relations Officer, Mahamud Musah, expressed disappointment in the university’s management, noting that the SRC remained financially handicapped due to withheld funds.
He appealed to the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to intervene urgently to rescue the institution from what he described as “persistent mismanagement”.
Meanwhile, all efforts to get management of the university to comment on the incident proved futile.
