University of Ghana to sue Gbevlo-Lartey

The Academic Board of the University of Ghana has directed the university’s management to take legal action against the National Security Coordinator, Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (retd), and his team for demolishing a tollbooth and a security post which were under construction at Legon.

The board also called on the government to condemn what it described as the barbaric act perpetrated by its officials.

It arrived at the decisions at its special meeting in Accra last Wednesday.

A statement issued in Accra yesterday by the board said the National Security Coordinator had admitted on various radio stations that he had ordered the demolition of the two structures.

Background

The controversy surrounding the collection of tolls by the University of Ghana, Legon deepened when operatives of the National Security pulled down a tollbooth under construction at the Okponglo end of the university campus at dawn last Tuesday.

The action did not, however, stop the university authorities, which had no prior knowledge of the demolition exercise, from collecting the tolls. 

Toll collectors, stationed about 150 metres away from the former tollbooth, were seen busily handing tickets, in exchange for cedi notes or coins, to motorists. 

Those who had stickers were exempted from paying.

The decision by the university to collect tolls on its roads has generated controversy. While the university is bent on collecting the tolls, some members of the public are against the action. 

Two students of the university have filed a suit in court to challenge the action of the university. 

Without permission  

The statement by the board read: “The Academic Board observed that the perpetrators of the above act entered the University of Ghana property without permission from the university, contrary to the University of Ghana Act, 2010 (Act 806).”

Without any prior notice to the university management, it said, the exercise took place at a time when the university had already taken steps to ease the mentioned traffic overflow by creating an additional point further into the campus.

“The Academic Board considers the actions of the National Security Coordinator and his team arbitrary, unconstitutional and unlawful and a direct attack on academic freedom and national democracy,” it said.

The board, therefore, urged the government to take steps to replace the two structures demolished by its appointed officials.

It also assured the public that it strongly endorsed all actions taken by the University Council and the university management to develop and improve the road infrastructure of the university and for its future maintenance.