Professor Ransford Gyampo, a lecturer in political science at the University of Ghana, is not pleased with a direction the Ministry of Education handed the institution over the application of the 15% increase in fees.
Prof. Gyampo, a member of the university's media team, described the direction as unlawful and claimed that only the Minister of Finance has the authority to issue such a directive.
Under an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu, he claimed, "It is crucial for us to stress out that in ACT 1080, the only ministry that is granted the responsibility over fees is the Minister of Finance and not the Education Minister."
Some of the student organizations claimed that the University of Ghana raised fees above the authorized 15% threshold.
In its defense, the University of Ghana claimed that it had done nothing wrong in calculating the 15% price increase that had been approved for 2019 but was not put into effect the following year due to broader economic difficulties.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum, invited management of some public universities to a meeting in response to complaints made by student organizations after public universities followed a directive from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to increase fees by 15% as authorized by Parliament for the 2022–2023 academic year.
Dr. Adutwum gave the University of Ghana the go-ahead to follow the agreed-upon pricing after the meeting.
Prof. Gyampo emphasized, however, that the University of Ghana could not follow the order.
"The University of Ghana has acted legally, and any direction that requests that we do otherwise will be asking us to continue an illegal practice. With all due respect, the Education Minister cannot direct public universities to take actions that are against the law. We haven't done anything, and we don't intend to do anything wrong right now.
He continued by saying that the University of Ghana cannot be accused of being insensitive due to the institution's adoption of budget-friendly strategies to assist students in times of need.
"Previously, students had to pay 70% of their tuition costs before they could register, but we had to lower it to 50% so they could pay. Even beyond this arrangement, we have the Students' Financial Office, which is ready to help brilliant but struggling students financially.
He also bemoaned how difficult it has become to manage the institution without raising facility usage fees to supplement government subsidies that have long since fallen behind.
Universities are now required to pay their own utilities, and campus buildings are cracking and need to be repaired. We need money to take care of these things in order to keep the institutions operating because government subventions are behind schedule and even the little that does arrive is only used to pay the salaries of employees.