Ghanaian actor cum politician, John Dumelo has suggested a solution that will see students of the University of Ghana, Legon have enough accommodation on campus that will curb the current lack of accommodation.
Students of Ghana’s premier Universitiy are currently stranded on campus as there is no accommodation space for some student.
John Dumelo reacting to the situation quizzed why the management of the university is refusing to collaborate with private individuals and build more hostels and other halls for students.
Taking to his Twitter page, John Dumelo wrote: “Every year there are accommodation problems on Legon campus. This year is no exception. For how long are we going to face such problems? There’s land, why not collaborate with private individuals under BOT system and have new hostel facilities or traditional halls?”
Several people also reacted to the situation and have called on John Dumelo to help salvage the issue. Others also raised some concerns as to why the issue keeps lingering on.
@Ehansoni1, a social media user reacting to the issue noted that the situation is very challenging as it has been tied to internal politics. Ehansion1 questioned why some lecturers signed a petition, for @OVAGlobal1 to stop a project of 4000beds aimed at curbing some of these accommodations challenges.
One social media user under the name @BrownDuffour lamented how a portal for booking hall accommodation get fully booked in 2 minutes. According to this social media user, it is obvious that people put in charge of the digital system are themselves creating chaos so they “cash in”. BrownDuffor claimed that the same people in charge of the portal are selling rooms for 2500 Ghana Cedis.
Another concerned social media user disclosed that the new vice chancellor is seeking to construct satellite campuses across the country instead of tackling the peculiar accommodation issue.
Jojn Dumelo Helped Students Secure Accommodation
In 2019, John Dumelo helped to provide accommodation for some stranded University students who didn’t have accommodation. He disclosed that he was working with the local executives of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC to find solutions to accommodation challenges of the University of Ghana.
During the time, nearly 12,000 newly admitted students were battling for only 1,907 available accommodation spaces in the school according to reports. The University admitted 11,193 fresh students for the 2019/2020 academic year; but the inadequate residential facilities in the school left over 9,000 of the students, many of whom were coming from outside Accra stranded.
John Dumelo in a social media post disclosed that he spoke to some of the frustrated students and was “working to solve UG accommodation problems”.
“I have interacted with many legon students these past few days and I can understand their accommodation frustrations. I want to assure those affected that I’m working together with the TEIN executives to try and solve the problems. #idey4u”.
Meanwhile, many saw his comments as a typical “political promise”, however John Dumelo reacted and noted that he does not make promises. According to him, he personally helped about 30 students get accommodation that week.
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