Conti Alumni accuses Minister for Education of disrespecting Asantehene

The accusation by the alumni of the largest university hall comes in the wake of a statement by the Education Minister petitioning the governing council of KNUST, which is chaired by the Asantehene, to consider reinstating Katanga Hall as an all-male hall, while snubbing Conti which was also converted to a mixed hall last year.

Lawyer George Tetteh Wayo, who is the spokesperson of the Conti Alumni, wondered why the Minister had to pick and choose Katanga from the rest of the halls that were converted to mixed halls at a time when all the halls converted are still waiting for the final verdict of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, after a committee he formed to look into the matter submitted its report.

“We are all aware of the mayhem that generated on campus last year because of the conversion. Otumfuo stepped in and we all gave him the respect due him," he told Adom FM.

“Otumfuo set up a committee in which both Unity Hall and Katanga Hall appeared. The report has been submitted to Otumfuo and he invited the two halls to appear before him.

“Otumfuo told us that the committee has just submitted its report and he is now looking into it and in due time he will come out with his final verdict.

“The Minister for Education before Otumfuo would speak on the matter has quickly issued a statement, which we think he has brought the name of Otumfuo into disrepute. We want it to be on record that the Minister has disrespected the Chancellor of the University.

He added that the Minister wants to sacrifice Unity Hall because he perceive them to be too gentle, but he is shouldn’t be mistaken because they can do worse things to create pandemonium if care is not taken.

“The Minister’s statement was inspired by the fact that two or three Katanga guys met in Kumasi and received media attention, Wayo added.

“We Unity guys are in the 1000s, so we are more than the Katanga guys, so we can do worse things to create confusion. The Minister is warned.”

It would be recalled that the University council took a decision to convert three single sex halls to mixed halls last year; namely Africa Hall (all-female), Unity Hall (all-male) and University Hall all-male).

There was mayhem on the KNUST campus following the arrival of freshmen and this resulted in the destruction of property - continuing students of Unity Hall and University hall led other group of students to resort to violence.

The University was subsequently temporarily closed down and the Vice Chancellor Professor Obiri Danso was initially relieved of his duties, although he was later reinstated upon the request of the Chancellor, Otumfuo Osei Tutu.

A Committee that was formed to look into the cause of the disturbances by students recommend a solution to help avert such occurrences on the KNUST campus in future.