Students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, who destroyed several properties in the school during a violent demonstration, are in trouble.
Students, who destroyed vehicles, motorbikes, computers and laptops, among others, in the university and thought they would go unpunished, should quickly revise their notes.
Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that most of the demonstrators, notably those that destroyed properties, were captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras placed at vantage points on campus.
According to reports, the university authorities are preparing to deal ruthlessly with the students that engaged in violent conduct in the school last week.
KNUST Riots
Irate KNUST students went on the rampage last Monday, destroying several properties on campus.
The students mainly targeted properties of the KNUST lecturers and other top officials of the university as virtually all the windscreens of vehicles at the park were smashed by the students.
Unknown to the irate students, their action was captured on CCTV cameras at one of the topmost educational institutions in the country.
Likely Punishment
Reports said the university authorities would soon engage ICT experts and some security officials to identify the culprits for punishment.
It appears the authorities will not spare any student that will be captured on the CCTV, as some of them will be rusticated from the university soon.
Reports said the students would be punished severely to serve as a lesson to other students in the university.
Some top officials of the university, who pleaded anonymity, indicated that each student would be punished based on the level of destruction that he or she engaged in.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that most of the students would be surcharged for destroying properties last Monday.
Monday’s riot on campus compelled the school authorities, in consultation with the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC), to shut down the university indefinitely since the place was not conducive for academic work.
The government, however, announced on Thursday that the university would be re-opened in 14 days’ time to help save the country’s image outside and also boost academic work.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the government also dissolved the KNUST Governing Council and put in place a seven-member Interim Management Committee (IMC), led by the Paramount Chief of Bompata, Nana Effah Appenteng.
The name of the beleaguered Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the KNUST, Prof. Obiri-Danso, was conspicuously missing from the seven-member committee which has the mandate to restore normalcy to the school in three months’ time.
KNUST Lecturers Strike
Meanwhile, the lecturers have protested against the government’s decision to dissolve the KNUST Governing Council without taking the pain to solicit their views.
However, a representative of the lecturers and educational workers has been included in the school’s interim council after they protested against the move.
A statement by the Education Ministry said the inclusion of UTAG and TEWU is to “further enhance stakeholder involvement.”
University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) expressed shock at government’s decision to dissolve the university’s governing council after the students went on the rampage on Monday.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi