Flip-Flopping Parliament Suspends Passage of Controversial Public University Bill

The Ghanaian parliament has been forced to suspend the controversial Public University Bill (PUB) which the Akufo Addo administration was secretly pushing for passage before the current Parliament is dissolved.

According to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, the Bill was suspended to allow for inputs from various stakeholders.

Addressing the Press, the Chairperson of the Education Committee in Parliament, William Quaittoo Agyapong, said: “The consideration at the plenary is suspended. That is on hold until we receive their [UTAG’s] inputs on the new Bill.”

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and many other stakeholders had condemned the legislation as an attempt by the Akufo Addo administration to politicise public universities in Ghana.

In a press release signed by its President, Dr. Samuel Nkumbaan, and addressed to Parliament, the Association also registered their reluctance “to believe that the Bill could be tabled in the dying days of the current Parliament without the promised consultations”.

“Re-laying the Bill in Parliament – without broad consultations and against the very vocal disaffection expressed by faculty, staff and students against this Bill – will not serve Ghana’s hard-earned image around the world as a stable democracy,” it reads.

Parliament on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, approved the Public University Bill at the second reading stage.

The bill will allow the board of universities to consist of 60% political appointees instead of the current 30%. Critics have warned that if the bill is allowed to be passed, university admission will be passed on students’ political leaning, rather than merit.

Following the massive outcry against the bill, the Akufo Addo administration had feigned withdrawing the bill, only to sneak it in a few days ago and set for its last round of readings this week before it is passed into law.

“…Contrary to the President’s promise (on Oman FM) to take a second look at the 60% executive dominance on the University Councils, the new version which is currently heading for 2nd Reading Tomorrow still has 9 members out of the 15 member University Council still coming from the government (60%),” warns Kofi Asare, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, an education advocacy organisation.

“The next few days will prove decisive for tertiary education, especially where the UTAG National front has been significantly weakened by the politicians. Tell your MP to vote against the Public Universities Bill before it turns Public Universities into another GES,” Mr. Asare alerted on his Facebook page.

The proposed bill-the Public Universities Bill, 2019, among others is seeking to reduce the representation of academic stakeholders in the governing councils of universities and replace them with government appointee. 

Also, the bill wants to give the President of the Republic of Ghana the power to appoint Chancellors for Universities, instead of the usual practice of chancellors being elected by autonomous university bodies.