Vandals threaten to stage ‘intellectual walk’ over UG accommodation challenges

Students of the University of Ghana’s Commonwealth Hall have threatened to embark on an intellectual walk should government fail to take action on their demands on issues of accommodation in the university.

Addressing the press on the perennial accommodation challenges facing the University, the JCR President of the hall, Prince Lumor acknowledged the Vice-Chancellor and the Government of Ghana’s response to their petitions, but demanded that further actions should be taken to address the issues raised in the document.

“We the members of the commonwealth hall Junior Common Room will be forced to go on an intellectual walk to drum home our concerns which otherwise should be the concerns of government and other relevant stakeholders. The passion to serve is accompanied by the desire to resolve issues and we shall implore every means to attain a positive result”.

Plans by Management of the University of Ghana to reintroduce a fresher’s first residential policy have also been met with stiff opposition by students of the Hall.

The JCR president urged the University to rather focus on partnering with private investors to construct hostels to augment existing ones.

“This proposal is intended to address the accommodation crisis on campus, we want to believe that this is just a mere rumor and does not contain any iota of truth but if it does then we humbly appeal that it should be aborted at its embryonic stage. This is because we do not understand why management will be tempted to think that when there are accommodation issues on campus, the best alternative solution is to displace the current students who are bonafide stakeholders of the university and make provision for those who are yet to become members of the University. We want to strongly suggest that the University of Ghana management discard such a thought from the very conception stage”.

UG Accommodation woes
The University of Ghana has been battling with accommodation crisis in recent years with the situation getting worse each year.

This year, the UG has offered admission to close to 11,000 students, but only 1,970-bed spaces are available in both the residential halls and the private hostels linked with the university, creating a situation where those who are unable to secure residential accommodation are left to find alternatives.