You don’t need a sticker to enter Legon campus – Ransford Gyampo

A Senior lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Dr. Ransford Gyampo, has described claims that drivers of vehicles without stickers cannot access the university’s campus as mere propaganda.

The claims, he said, were deliberately designed to cause public disaffection for the university and dent its credibility.

According to Dr. Gyampo, the public has access to the university through its main gate at Okponglo on the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina highway and drivers are expected to use the same route out of the university’s campus.

The University of Ghana has limited public access to some roads leading to the campus. Only vehicles with a UG-sticker being sold at Gh¢400, are permitted unlimited access through for a period of twelve months.

The decision was met with anger by a section of the public who ply the campus roads including parents of pupils at the University’s Basic School, who stormed the Boundary road gate close to GIMPA, protesting the order.

Subsequent to this, a private members’ bill was laid in Parliament last week, seeking the removal of the restriction clause in the Act establishing the University of Ghana. This motion will thus compel the minister of education to re-introduce the Act for a possible removal of the clause and pave way for easy access to the university’s campus .

But speaking on the Super Morning Show, Thursday, Dr. Gyampo welcomed the latest development describing it as a plus for the country’s democracy.

The political science lecturer however, maintained “the University [of Ghana] will always have the right to determine who must use its roads”.

“If we cannot regulate the use of campus roads [then] as well let’s turn it into a lorry park,” Dr. Gyampo said.

“The public can always come to campus through the Okponglo entry; you don’t need a sticker to access the university’s campus,” added.

Meanwhile, Prof. Nana Baaba Amfo, Head of Linguistics Department of the University, said the decision to restrict vehicular movements is to regulate traffic control on its campus.

Prof. Amfo explained that UG relaxed the policy sometime in 2009 to ease traffic flow when major and access roads to surrounding communities were under construction. But now that all those roads have been fixed, it was important the limitations are re-introduced.

According to her “traffic congestion on the university campus was simply unacceptable”, prior to the re-introduction of the policy.

Prof. Amfo also affirmed that students of the University of Ghana who own vehicles are not required to pay for the sticker.

They would however have to pay Gh¢50 to process documents to enable their vehicles to be registered with the university’s security, she clarified.