OTUMFUO DOES NOT LIE - STATEMENT BY CONCERNED KANTANGEES

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Katangees in Serious Action


We, the Concerned Katangees (Alumni and Students of University Hall) hereby lift our self- imposed silence on the latest developments regarding the restoration of University Hall (Katanga) to its original status of an “All Male Hall. Our silence for more than a year was in respect of the protocols that the Chancellor of the University, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, had instituted on this matter.

Over the past week, it has become obvious that University Management has no respect for these protocols. We have learnt, to our dismay, that the University has begun to assign females again to Katanga for the upcoming academic year. It is therefore important to note that this decision was made without recourse to any of the protocols established by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II or the common courtesy of engaging the relevant stakeholders.

We note that on September 5, 2019, the Minister of Education wrote to the Chairman of the University Council formally asking for the rescission of the decision to restore Katanga to an “All Male Hall”. In that official memorandum, the Minister reiterated the position of the Government that Katanga remain a male hall of residence as prevailing in other sister universities in Ghana. The Minister also emphasized that this was necessary to preserve a peaceful and conducive environment for academic work. We have it on authority that the University Council were in the process of acting upon this request from Government.

We also note that, subsequent to the minister of educations statement, the Chancellor of the University, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, held meetings with the Katanga Global Alumni Leadership and assured us of restoring Katanga to an “All Male Hall” and further admonished that the Leadership ensures a peaceful academic environment and collaborate with management regarding the development of the University.

Since Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson became Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in August 2020, the Katanga Alumni Association has been working with her on a proposed ultra-modern student hostel to help alleviate the accommodation problem that has plagued the University for years. Indeed a major fundraising drive to support the project is imminent.

We Concerned Katangees wish to reiterate that Professor Dickson is Vice Chancellor today, only because Katanga relentlessly stood up to the oppression of her predecessor Obiri Danso. We fully supported her bid because we believed that she was the right person to restore sanity and trust after a turbulent period of autocracy by the previous Vice Chancellor. We continue to believe that she is the right leader, but it now appears that there are elements within the University system seeking to undermine the Vice Chancellor by using this Katanga conversion issue as a wedge.

The recent decision to assign females to Katanga, without the basic courtesy of consultation, is an insult to the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, the Chancellor, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and all Katanga Alumni. We can only hope that this incident is not a reflection of a deliberate attempt all along to deceive the Katanga Alumni Association and its Executives and entire membership

With the foregoing, we demand the following:

1. The Executives of the Katanga Alumni Association should convene an emergency

meeting of all members as soon as possible to explain the current situation and the way forward.

2. The University should immediately render an unqualified apology to the President of Ghana, the Chancellor, the Minister of Education, and all Katanga Alumni for the University’s failure to respect the protocols in place regarding the matter of conversion of Katanga.

3. An immediate cessation of all actions by the University aimed at assigning females to Katanga.

4. The University should take immediate steps to re-assign all incoming females who have been allocated Katanga as their hall of residence.

While we wait on these demands to be met, Concerned Katangees will be meeting to deliberate on the current situation and advise ourselves. In the meantime, we ask our members to remain calm in the midst of the extreme provocation.

FELLOWS......CHAARRGE Signed :

Nana Kwadwo Minta (0554464910)

Hon. Dr S.K. Nuamah (0509999959) 

Collins Kankam Kwarteng (0205813582)

Nana Adjei Kyerema (0550206565)

Nana Boateng (0577553189)


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