Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, an Associate professor at the University Of Ghana School Of Law, has decried comments made by the Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, over the controversial Public University Bill.
According to him, the disposition of the sector minister is unfavorable to stakeholders attempt at reaching a consensus on the matter.
His comments follows the Minister’s assertion that criticisms of the new draft bill were baseless as concerns have been addressed.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh had earlier stated Parliament will not act as a rubber stamp in the processes leading to the passage of the Public Universities Bill.
“The ranking member of the Committee attested to the fact that the Universities were consulted, and it is their proposal that they brought in that led to a large number of amendment. Of course, when bills are brought, Parliament is not a rubber stamp. Parliament invites stakeholder memorandum and there were 38 memoranda that were brought so Parliament will listen and if there are amendments that is the work of Parliament. I do not remember a single bill that came and went back the same”.
However, speaking in an interview, Prof. Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua advised the education minister to respect agreements reached by stakeholders after a consultative meeting with the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“We are relying on the goodwill of the Vice President who has promised that the bill will not see the light of day until the concerns of all the other major stakeholders have been taken abound. That was reiterated by the Minister of Information. The speaker also holds the same position as well.
“So we are baffled as to why the Minister of Education will continue to go on air and create the impression that the law [which] is going to be passed meets our needs and concern. We were given a time frame to respond. The time frame is not over, so we don’t see the need for the Minister to go on air saying that our needs have been met.”
He further chided him for giving a false sense of consensus between stakeholders and government over the Bill.
“We haven’t responded officially so at least he should give us an opportunity to respond, so we see what our position is. But our position has already been expressed in a way based on a draft we have seen that the minister said is not original”.
The Public Universities Bill, which was withdrawn last November, was re-laid earlier this week in the House to harmonize the structures for the administration of public universities.
Contrary to stakeholders’ expectations, Parliament on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, approved the Bill at the second reading stage but was suspended again following concerns by various stakeholders including the Minority in Parliament.
The Bill entered the consideration stage after its second reading in Parliament on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, where the Minority threatened to withdraw their support if their request for further consultation is ignored.
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