Students’ coalition to march on Flagstaff House Friday

A coalition of students of tertiary institutions protesting delays in the formation of the Governing Councils of all public tertiary institutions in the country have served notice they will march to the Flagstaff House on Friday.

They say they would be presenting a petition to President Akufo-Addo to urgently constitute the councils to curtail the untold hardships students awaiting graduation, certification and others have had to suffer over the lingering constitutional mandate.

A notice of the intended action served the Accra Regional Police Command by the group said the planned action “is necessitated by untold hardships, harassment from some banks over debts, threats of marriage collapse, broken homes among other things created through the delay in organization of graduations and certifications as a result of the non-existing Governing Councils who are to superintend the graduations and certifications.”

They explained that per the Presidential Transition Act 2012 [ACT 845], the Governing Councils of all public tertiary institutions stood dissolved by 7th January 2017 and was incumbent on President Akufo-Addo to form same with alacrity but he has since not acted.

The group said the development has also stalled the promotion of teachers at the various institutions, frozen budgets approval for the smooth running of the institutions and stalled the admission of fresh men and women as programmed cannot be advertised.

The coalition said the petition presentation on Friday, July 14, will be done at 11 AM, with the Kwame Nkrumah Circle as their assembling point and from where they will march to the Flagstaff House.