PUBLIC STATEMENT - STUDENTS COALITION AGAINST IN-OUT-OUT-OUT RESIDENTIAL POLICY

Students at Ghana's first and largest university campus – the University of Ghana at Legon – have been engaged in an intense struggle against university and government officials who are bent on instituting policies that will limit access to higher education. The students' struggle is focused on a new residential policy that will restrict on-campus housing essentially to only first year students (called the “in-out-out-out policy”). These students make up less than one-fifth of the student population. The remainder of the students are expected to find their own accommodations wherever they can.

University and government officials try to portray the policy as one that simply addresses overcrowded campus housing. The reality, however, is that the policy is part of an ongoing strategy to restrict access to education to only the wealthier citizens in the society. As a neo-colony for the last fifty years, Ghana's economy has been dominated and controlled by foreign interests. These interests do not need or value the development of an educated population – especially when that education includes the poor within the society. Countries like Ghana are most attractive to their neo-colonial masters when they can supply a cheap (ie, uneducated) supply of labour. Consequently, public policy is biased in favour of “private sector development,” tourism, political and economic policies have and other sectors that can create quick returns on investment while maintaining the dependency on foreign investors. The government finds it easier to justify expenditures of millions of dollars for luxury vehicles for visiting “dignitaries” than they do in putting adequate funds in the development of education.

This is in direct contradiction to Ghana's first and only truly independent government, which as a principle made the education of all in the society a priority. This principle was not expressed in words alone, as it is consistently done today; it was backed up by actual monetary and policy commitments. Schools were built, teachers were recruited and trained, and monetary incentives and subsidies were put in place to ensure that all had the right to and opportunity for formal education. Many of the current generation of government officials and business leaders benefited directly from the educational policies instituted by the Nkrumah-led CPP government of the 1950's and early 1960's.

However, today these officials and leaders see the fact that people want education not as a problem to be solved but as a threat to be controlled and eliminated. The goal is no longer to provide education for all but to see that it is provided only to those who can afford it. Rather than putting priority on meeting the demand by supplying more educational facilities, resources and opportunities, the stated goal is now “decongestion,” – that is, reducing the number of people who have access.

Clearly, wherever there is injustice, there is resistance. Despite employing the age-old strategy of introducing unpopular and unjust policies at the end of the academic year when students are typically less able to unite and organize, the university has been met with fierce opposition to its proposed housing policy. Initially, students attempted to use all the conventional channels to initiate dialogue with the university administration on the issue. They were essentially rebuffed and ignored. There was the obvious hope on the part of the university administration that the pressure to write final examinations and to graduate would reduce the forces of resistance among the students. However, the students remained vigilant. In fact, many senior level students who would not be impacted personally by the proposed “in-out-out-out residential policy,” became fully engaged in the student resistance. They were committed to improving and expanding educational access for future generations of students even though they themselves had essentially completed their own academic careers.

A student demonstration was organized to march to the Presidents office (the Castle) to present a petition outlining the students' concerns. The President of Ghana is the official Chancellor of the state university system and the university's Vice Chancellor had not indicated any willingness to discuss the policy or consider student concerns. In a massive show of support, some ten thousand students marched ten miles from the university to the Castle. The non-violent appeal to get a response or some acknowledgement from the government to their concerns was met with brutal force. Using tear gas, hot water cannons, batons and mounted police, the students were beaten and forcibly dispersed.

Ironically, this occurred at the same location where almost 60 years earlier, oppressively-inspired British colonial soldiers met a non-violent demonstration from Ghanaian ex-servicemen with brutal repression. On that occasion, the veterans who had fought on behalf of the British government against Nazi Germany came to present a petition asking for their pension funds. Three petitioning veterans were killed on that day and the event served as a milestone in the anti-colonial struggle that would lead to Ghana's independence almost ten years later.

Not surprisingly, following the confrontation at the Castle, the state dominated media did their best to discredit the students and confuse the public. Initially, the so-called 'independent' media attempted to characterize the demonstration as being comprised of only a few hundred disgruntled students. However, the public was reluctant to accept this fabrication since there were pictures and video footage which clearly showed the thousands of students who participated. Next, they parroted the government's portrayal that the demonstration was led by and made up of 'outside' agitators. Again, this proved a difficult myth to propagate as the sentiment among the students on the Legon campus was clearly strong and growing. In fact, the opposition to the administration's housing policy began to spread to other university campuses where agitations against the policy seemed to have died down.

The next tactic used by the government and the university officials was to try to intimidate the student into inaction. A number of students were arrested and detained for questioning in a clear attempt to discourage students from being part of the organized resistance. The police presence on the Legon campus was increased dramatically with the stated aim being to provide “increased security”. There are over 500-armed police officers at the Legon campus. However, it was clear to the students that it was not for their security that the police were suddenly there, but it was rather to try to induce fear and intimidate them from taking further actions.

The most recent tactic used by government and university administration has been to divert attention from the core issue of education policy. By focusing on the appropriateness or offensiveness of the many of the expressions of resistance, it is hoped that the general public can be distracted from the true issue.

The current struggle against neo-colonial policies that is being sparked and led by university students is not new. It is a continuation of a struggle that has gone on for many years. Seven years prior, when the current “opposition” party was in power, they too struggled to repress student activism. At that time, the government and university administration was attempting to restrict education access by raising the cost of tuition. The students took their grievances to the Castle only to be met with hot water cannons and indiscriminate floggings. So, there is really no difference between the objectives or the tactics of the British colonialists who were struggling to maintain their power and dominance over the population in 1948 and the NDC government that tried to restrict educational access through the manipulation of costs and fees in 1999, or the NPP government that seeks to stifle opposition to their anti-education policies in 2007.

The ultimate victory over these anti-education neo-colonial interests will only come about through principled, consistent and organized opposition. This organized opposition must lead to the dominance of human development objectives over individual greed and private sector profit. This struggle will ultimately lead to a Pan-African solution which results in one unified socialist Africa. Students once again are sparking this struggle. It is now necessary for other enlightened organizations and individuals to speak up and to act in support of our students. Immediately, we must all bring pressure to bear on the government of Ghana to unconditionally release Benjamin Akyena Brantuo (BENJI), the immediate past JCR President of Commonwealth Hall from 'unlawful detention' for leading vociferously in the agitations against the said policy which seeks to justify why citizens of our beloved country should sleep in the streets.

TO ALL STUDENTS:
Current events have revealed to us beyond any modicum of doubt that our official leadership in the form of the NUGS, USAG, SRC, and the various JCR's though adequately resourced from our dues, lack the simple courage to lead. They are nothing but a myopic bunch of self-seeking cowards, who have specialized in marking time, only to show their disgraced faces when there is imminent glory. Do not forget that, it took the benevolence of majority of you and the selfless dedication of a few to organize the FREE BENJI campaign. We shall advance more dynamic strategies and approaches continually until our colleague is finally freed from this shameful conspiracy orchestrated by the government in collaboration with University officials and most ultimately, to fight for the unconditional abolishing of the infamous IN-OUT-OUT-OUT residential policy.

The point must be made that we are not in any way move by the recent issuance of admission letters to freshmen and women with their room numbers posted therein-a sign that the policy is already implemented. SCAIRP- STUDENTS COALITION AGAINST IN-OUT-OUT-OUT RESIDENTIAL POLICY
Wish to warn the University management and government that students of Ghana and the future leaders of this country cannot be taken for granted. The suspension of dialogue and ongoing negotiations on this policy without informing students and the subsequent implementation of this policy remains a huge insult to the intelligence of students and a further attestation that neither the university management nor the government upholds the principles of democratic ethos. We will not by this attitude of people who should know better be pushed to the wall to adopt alien tactics to further our concerns however we have no doubt at all that students will reject this policy made by persons who are not at the receiving end of it and will in the face of difficulty opt for the easy way out without seeing be young today to know the repercussions of their actions in the future. We shall continue to appeal to the general public for sympathy. Organise debates strike actions, boycotts, mobiles in our fat numbers and hit the streets. This we shall do until this short sighted policy which is not only an attack on the bulk of our population who are very poor but it seeks to preserve education for the privilege few who can afford and constipate the future prospects of the youth who cannot afford. THIS WE WILL OPPOSE. The fight continues…
Please stay tuned

Issued Saturday 21st July, 2007
Kweku Aboagye Boampong
Tel. O244250053-0244252426
SCAIRP- STUDENTS COALITION AGAINST IN-OUT-OUT-OUT RESIDENTIAL POLICY
Email: [email protected]