The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has suggested that students who are proven to be responsible for the altercation between the students of Commonwealth Hall and Mensah Sarbah Hall on the University of Ghana’s Legon campus be expelled and prosecuted.
Dr. Samuel Nkumbaan, president of the UTAG chapter at the University of Ghana, described the incident as unfortunate in an interview with Alfred Ocansey on the 3FM Sunrise Morning Show. He also pledged the association’s support for efforts by university officials to find and punish those responsible in accordance with Ghanaian law and school regulations.
“The act of the students violating the university’s and Ghana’s laws by using the law to their own ends to destroy state property is a severe security issue.
“We are expecting that the offenders will be identified and punished. Dismissing the relevant parties is a good concept, but it is not adequate. I believe they ought to go through legitimate judicial channels and get appropriate punishments, as the law may dictate,” he said.
He asserts that college should be a place where people form relationships for the future rather than where students injure their peers in the sake of supposed traditions.
The fact that we are both students and employees while the students are merely temporary travelers attending the institution for four years makes it a significant issue, he added.
He forewarned that it was conceivable to run across a pupil he injured in the past while upholding a hall custom at work after school. How would this affect the working environment?
“Traditions that permit aggression against one another and the destruction of public property should not be continued. In truth, I believe that our children have a misunderstanding of the tradition, which is one of socialization that enables you to forge bonds. Which culture supports the culture of violence? He probed.
The institution has been contributing to the effort to prevent these fights, Mr. Nkumbaan continued, but much of it is hidden from view in terms of the students who have been expelled or rusticated for engaging in such behavior.
He believes, however, that it is high time the government increased the severity of its punitive actions because we cannot let what is happening to continue for the next few years. Otherwise, it might make matters worse and spiral out of control.
On Friday, August 5, 2022, a fight between some Commonwealth Hall and Mensah Sarbah Hall students on the Legon campus resulted in injuries to people and property damage, including the burning of a car at Mensah Sarbah Hall and the removal of the effigy of John Mensah Sarbah. Since then, peace has been restored, and the University of Ghana campus is heavily guarded by the military and police.
