- "To me all the grievances that they brought to us, I will say about 85 to 90% have been incorporated into the bill. The remaining 10% are those they are fighting on, and even though I am not a lawyer, I think the 10% should be maintained."
William Quaittoo, the MP for Oda and chairman of the education committee in Parliament, has said there was enough consultation on the Public Universities Bill (PUB) before the House suspended discussion of the proposed legislation.
In an interview with Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday, Quaittoo said about 90% of the grievances of the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG) had already been factored into redrafting the bill before its second reading on Tuesday (15 December).
“There has never been any bill that broader consultation has not been done than this bill. The minister [of education], on Wednesday, when we met them [UTAG] with the vice-president, [this] was the sixth time the minister was meeting the University Teachers’ Association; this was my second time,” he said.
Quaittoo added: “A section of them are saying the Universities Bill is not important, it should be thrown away. And so, when you talk to them, in one breath they seem to be understanding you, or they will say that ‘we want to own the bill and make input into the act’.”
Politicised fight
The education committee chair said that most of the contentious provisions in the original bill have been amended, contrary to UTAG’s claims.
“To me, all the grievances that they brought to us, I will say about 85 to 90% have been incorporated into the bill. The remaining 10% are those they are fighting on, and even though I am not a lawyer, I think the 10% should be maintained.”
Quaittoo said the “unnecessary politicisation of the bill” is not in the best interests of Ghana.
He argued that the main bone of contention between the government and UTAG is the presidential prerogative to appoint chancellors for universities.
“When it comes to the appointment of a chancellor, it is a constitutional issue. We are arguing that the chancellor can be appointed by the president or government and their argument is that the chancellor cannot be appointed by the president,” he said.
Debate suspended
Debate on the Public Universities Bill was suspended on Wednesday 16 December, pending further consultation.
The decision to suspend the bill follows a consultative meeting on Wednesday between the vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and the select committee on education.
Before the suspension of the bill, stakeholders such as the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG), vice-chancellors and other members of academia had kicked against the bill, arguing that it frowns on academic freedom and the autonomy of public universities.
Input secure
Speaking to the media in his capacity as chairman of the education committee, William Quaittoo said that Parliament will not pass the Public Universities Bill until it receives more advice from UTAG and other interest groups.
He said that during their meeting, the vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, assured the leadership of UTAG that their input has been and will continue to be taken into account in the draft legislation before it returns to Parliament.
Fred Dzakpata
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