Put national interest first - Prof. Yankah charges students

The Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Private Universities, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, has advised students to put national interest first and refuse to be used by politicians to undermine the peace in the country.

He urged them, especially student leaders, to be very sensitive to the current political climate in the country as the Supreme Court determined the final outcome of Ghana's 2012 presidential elections in two weeks' time.

'Students should always think first of national interest when politicians attempt to use you to disturb the peace in the country,' the immediate past Pro-Vice Chancellor of University of Ghana stated.

Speaking at the seventh national delegates congress of  Private University Students Association of Ghana (PUSAG) at Koforidua last Friday, Prof. Yankah said, 'It is the youth that have been utilised as agents of destruction and false propaganda'.

Prof. Yankah stated that within the next two weeks, the Supreme Court of the country would determine the final outcome of the 2012 presidential elections.

The Supreme Court ruling, Prof. Yankah said, would be the most important development in the history of Ghana's highest court and would mark a turning point in the history of democracy in Ghana and in Africa as a whole.

'But we believe this moment will be efficiently and ably handled by our noble justices of the Supreme Court,' he said.

Prof. Yankah, who is also the President of the Central University College (CUC), pointed out that it was 'possible for opportunists to seize the occasion and push the country into a state of turmoil and anarchy after the verdict had been declared'.

The President of the All Nations University College, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, for his part, noted that the youth were the pillars of any society who represented a mighty force for both good and evil.

'Without them, a nation has no future yet they are manipulated by political leaders for their own selfish interests,'he said.

He, therefore, appealed to students to submit totally to the ruling of the Supreme Court without any reservation and no student should in anyway be party to anyone who might be aggrieved by the verdict.

'Remember, without the involvement of the youth no country can sustain conflict and so I appeal to you not to allow anyone to use you except for that which promotes peace and development,' Dr Donkor said.

He also admonished political leaders and their parties to seek no further review of the verdict as the 'country cannot afford to be mired in political turmoil whatsoever'.

'Around the world, Ghana is known as a country of peace within Africa and let us not tarnish our image of a shining example of tolerance to others,' he said.

 By Nana Konadu Agyeman/Daily Graphic/Ghana