Conti, Katanga present petition to Otumfuo over hall conversion

Alumni of the two rival male halls on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus namely Conti and Katanga stormed the streets of Kumasi to demonstrate against the decision of the university authorities to convert the halls to unisex halls.

A large crowd of past residents of the halls climaxed their demonstration with presentation of their petition to the Chancellor of the university Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene.

The authorities of KNUST are bent on converting the two traditional all male halls to mixed halls with an aim of increasing female residents on campus at the expense of their male colleagues.

The Junior Common Room (JCR) and the alumni of these two halls have argued that decision is unwarranted because it infringes on the rights of males.

They added the university should be proactive by collaborating with private institutions to put up hall of residents on campus to cater for the needs of females and let the traditions that has existed over 50 years.

However, the university went ahead to allocate female students to the hall ahead of school reopening.

The alumni base of the two halls put behind their differences and hit the streets to express their displeasure over the decision.

They demonstrated scary scenes, including a coffin with the name of the Vice chancellor of the University Prof Obiri Danso on it to indicate their quest to stop the conversion.

Meanwhile, the two halls have secured a court injunction to restrain the university from sending females students to the male halls.