By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Minority Caucus in Ghana’s Parliament says attempts by the government to rename the Ho Technical University after Ghanaian composer Ephraim Amu are illegal.
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee and Member of Parliament (MP) for Akatsi North, in the Volta region, Mr. Peter Nortsu Kotoe, commenting on the issue in an interview faulted the government for failing to present a bill to effect the name change.
“It is illegal because, if you read the law establishing a university, the name of the university is stated in Section 1 of the law. So no person can just stand up and say I have changed.
If they bring any name, if they are asking for any name change to any university, it is illegal because Parliament has not approved it. It may be somebody’s suggestion, but as far as I know, there is no bill before Parliament to that effect,” the Akatsi North lawmaker said.
On another development, the Chiefs of the Asogli State on Monday vehemently opposed the government’s proposal to rename Ho Technical University after Dr. Ephriam Amu.
During a press conference, the council expressed deep disappointment with the government and the university’s governing council for proceeding with the renaming without engaging major stakeholders, including the Asogli State Council, the custodians of the land on which the university is currently situated.
The Asogli State Council labelled the decision as regrettable, ill-conceived, and disrespectful, as it failed to consider the perspectives of those directly affected.
The decision to change the name of the university, which came to light in February 2018, has drawn criticism from stakeholders, particularly the Asogli State Council, the Minority in Parliament, and some cross section Ghanaians.