Your Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, following your announcement at the Wa-Naa’s Palace on your recent visit to the Upper West region on the signing of the Act 1001 in August 2019, for the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SD-DUBIDS) to take off as a full fledge University, all citizens of Upper West region are immeasurable grateful for the kind gesture.
Your Excellency, while conveying the tremendous gratitude from the people of Upper West region, we wish to further plead for an expedited implementation of the Act to allow for immediate take-off of the university.
The urgency of this request is necessitated by the following concerns:
1. Manipulation of admissions process to the disadvantage of the newly established Universities (Wa and Navrongo) since your announcement of their autonomous statuses in 2018: For the past two years, admission of new students to Wa campus is miserable. Many students who qualified and applied for programmes in Wa (BEd Social Sciences and BEd Business etc) were refused deliberately and given BA Development Education and Social Change Communication in Tamale and Nyankpala respectively.
2. Subtly moving programmes from Wa Campus to Tamale and Nyankpala and renaming departments and programmes in Tamale and Nyankpala to duplicate existing programmes in the Wa and Navrongo campuses: Your Excellency, the Department of African and General Studies currently running under the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies on the Wa Campus proposed under the collegiate system to run as a new Faculty of Arts with the following department;
1. Department of communication and Innovation
2. Department of Journalism and Media studies
3. Department of Public Relations and Advertising
4. Department of Library and Information Studies
5. Department of Cultural and Heritage Studies
6. Department of Modern Languages
7. Department of Theatre Arts etc.
All these seven (7) Departments and existing programmes of the Department of African and General Studies in Wa Campus were subsumed under a new Faculty of Communication Sciences and Cultural Studies hurriedly composed by the Vice Chancellor on the 29th of August, 2019 barely a week after the New University for Wa Act was signed by you without recourse to the Academic Board of the University and the subsequent appointment of a foundation Dean in the person of Dr. Edward Salifu Mahama.
Your Excellency it is surprising to note that this same faculty was captured under a clandestine realignment document which is currently part of the court injunction placed in 2018 and still awaiting determination.
Department of Economics under Faculty of Integrated Development Studies in Wa Campus has been smartly renamed as Department of Applied Economics under Faculty of Agricbusiness in Nyankpala just last month.
Your Excellency, just three weeks ago, the School of Business and Law with its programmes currently run in Wa campus was smartly also advertised for the 2020 sale of forms for prospective students under City Campus in Tamale under the Business and Innovation Centre which was also a Dutch Government Partnership centre meant for Wa Campus that was hijacked to Tamale last year.
Similar tactics were employed to move Faculty of Education with over fifteen (15) Academic programmes and departments from Wa to Tamale two years ago.
3. Unfair distribution of resources and deliberate delay in the release of funds from UDS Central Administration for the smooth running of the newly established Campus in Wa hence on-going projects funded from internal generated funds have stalled since 2018: A casual visit to any of the two new Universities will certainly tell the story compared to Tamale and Nyankpala Campus. GUSS Hostel initially earmarked for Wa was surreptitiously relocated in Tamale. Currently New expansion work is going, Projects funded from internally generated funds have stalled in the 2 new Universities (in Wa and Navrongo) while the focus is shifted to projects in Nyankpala and Tamale Campuses. Electricity bills for the 2 new Universities have not been attended to for the past years since the autonomous statuses for these 2 campuses gained prominence.
Your Excellency, while continuing to convey our sincere thanks on behalf of the Chiefs and people of Upper West, the immediate take off of the University will bring enormous benefits and relief to the people in general.
In conclusion, Your Excellency, it is our fervent belief that the above happenings are unfair, fly in the face of the law as well as maligns the collective efforts expected of all in support of your vision of giving universities to the Upper West and Upper East regions.
We, therefore, appeal to you, Your Excellency, to, as a matter of urgency, authorize the implementation of the Act 1001, of 2019 by Constituting and inaugurating the interim Council as well as the Acting Management Officers of the University to pave way for full realization of your cherished vision.
Thank you.
Signed:
………………..
By President, Concerned citizens, Upper West Region.
Distribution:-
1. H. E. President of Ghana
2. Hon. Minister of Education
3. Hon. Interior Minister
4. Regional House of Chiefs
5. Regional Peace Council
6. Upper West Regional Minister
7. All Media Houses in Wa
8. Joy News
9. Citi News