Dollar-starved Ghana’s first overseas bond sale in six years received a
modest response Thursday from investors who are becoming increasingly
demanding in lending to African countries with shaky finances.
Ghana’s sale of $750 million in 10-year bonds attracted orders of over
$2 billion, a response that’s less enthusiastic than other African
countries have seen in recent months. The yield is 8%. That is a level
rarely seen in dollar bonds recently and sharply higher than what
Nigeria and Rwanda, two other sub-Saharan African countries, have had to
pay in recent months.
The muted reaction is a sobering reminder to emerging-market countries
that foreign inflows can abate as quickly as they arrived. African
countries with below investment-grade debt ratings had flocked to debt
markets in recent months as investors scrambled to buy assets offering
higher returns. In April, at perhaps the height of the frenzy, Rwanda
sold its first-ever overseas bond. It attracted bids that were more than
eight times the amount the country sold. The yield was just 6.875%.
Since then, investors have become more cautious, especially given signs
the U.S. Federal Reserve might pull back monetary stimulus, and
emerging-market bonds have oscillated wildly. The bond Ghana issued in
2007, which matures in 2017, yielded as little as 4.7% in April. By the
end of June, the yield was over 7%; it is now around 5.5%. Yields fall
when prices rise.
Just a few months ago, amid the search for yield, investors were keen
on Africa’s considerable growth prospects. Now, they’re troubled by its
risks. Ghana has had envious economic performance–growth has averaged
over 7% over the past 12 years, according to the International Monetary
Fund. But frenetic public spending has opened a huge budget gap and has
pushed up the government’s debt pile. Rising income has meant a hunger
for imports and a consequentially large trade deficit.
The twin deficits mean the country is desperate for foreign financing.
“The yield on offer reflects Ghana’s many risks,” said Mahan Namin,
portfolio manager at Insparo Asset Management, a specialist Africa and
Middle East asset manager, which manages $155 million in assets. “Its
current-account deficit is worrying in light of low and decreasing
foreign-exchange reserves, as is its fiscal deficit. The deficit is
still rising and there isn’t a clear indication of how, and when, this
trajectory will change.” Namin said he prefers local-currency Ghanaian
debt and equities to dollar bonds.
In the local-currency market, Ghana pays more than 20% for one-year
debt. Dollar bonds bear the risk that the government won’t have the
foreign reserves to repay them; local bonds bear the risk that repayment
is in a devalued currency. Ghana’s government will use the proceeds
from the new issue to buy back some of its external and local debt, thus
lowering its average borrowing cost, and fund infrastructure projects
already budgeted for this year.
The timing of the bond sale, which comes during a summer lull in
markets, suggests Ghana sorely needs the money. Samir Gadio, an
emerging-markets strategist at Standard Bank, estimates that the country
only has enough foreign-exchange reserves to pay for less than three
months of imports. Still, for some investors, the yields on Ghana’s
dollar bond are just too high to be ignored. By comparison, 10-year U.S.
Treasurys yield 2.60%. The equivalent South African bond yields 4.30%.
“Ghana’s government is clearly making a growth bid,” said Antoon de
Klerk, emerging-markets portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management.
“This is a high-growth country, with all the problems that come with it,
which, to be honest, are almost nice problems to have,” he added. De
Klerk said he already invests in the local bond market but the high
yield on offer for this dollar bond has caught his eye. BarclaysBARC.LN
-0.73% and CitigroupC -0.85% are assisting Ghana in its bond issue.
Ghana has a “junk” rating from the three main credit-ratings firms.
Source: WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/25/ghana-overseas-bond-sale-receives-modest-response
Saturday, 27 July 2013
Petroleum energy Depot nears completion in Tema - gsmbizmen
Work on a $60 million petroleum depot in Tema is near completion to
facilitate the import and distribution of refined petroleum
products to help curb shortages of LPG and fuel on the market.
The depot, initiated by the Fuel Trade Limited but operating under the name Tema Fuel Company, is currently under going a test running to check teething problems before full operations start.
With the entry of the privately-owned Ghanaian import and distribution company, it is expected that there would be abundant gas, gasoline and diesel on the market to create competition among distributors.
The company also has a facility in Takoradi, where LPG is discharged directly onto trucks.
Reports indicate that market demands for LPG now stand at 1,100 of gas, 500,000 litres of super (gasoline) and 800,000 litres of diesel, daily.
It was expected that the other bulk distribution companies in the sector would supply the remaining shortfall, which is minimal.
The Daily Graphic found out that some fuel and gas tankers were already loading for distribution as part of its test operations.
The depot has a weekly delivery schedule during which products made up of a LPG, super and diesel, were delivered and, therefore, did not foresee any shortage.
The project is near completion and has started test supplies to solve all teething problems on the equipment.
It was gathered that gas from the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) was predominantly for power generation unless it was separated.
The source said laboratory equipment for that purpose were not available to provide what could be used for domestic and smaller machines and, therefore, would not be of use to domestic consumers.
When the Daily Graphic got to the depot, some officials from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Customs Division and a technical team from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) were checking the pumps on various tanks to ensure that they were in good conditions.
The depot has seven tanks with five for fuel, one for water and a mounded bullet tank purposely for LPG.
It also operates six loading bays for gas, gasoline and diesel, with each bay loading 200 tons in an hour.
This system of loading created efficiency and minimal delays at the loading bay.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at the depot, the Technical and Operations Director, Mr Andrews Barfi Owusu, disclosed that the components of the depot were adjustable and the depot could increase its intake when the need arises.
He said the company would not want to create overcapacity in the system, hence, the gap to enable other bulk distribution companies to take the shortfall.
Mr Owusu noted that the company’s intention was to contribute to government’s effort to make available fuel and gas to consumers
He said the decision to set up a depot came about when shortages of gas, especially, kept occurring because of the low capacity of existing distributors .
Mr Owusu said the ‘Tema Fuel Company would be able to satisfy the consumer market even if TOR shuts down’.
He narrated how clearing of the land started in September 2010 and by April 2013, was ready to start importing fuel and gas for test running.
He said Fuel Trade had, for the last three months, been experimenting with the computerised systems, equipments, pumps and tanks.
Mr Owusu was optimistic that shortages of fuel would be things of the past.
He noted that there was a collaboration between all bulk distribution companies operating in the sector and said the depot would work closely with the companies to make fuel and gas available on the market.
Mr Owusu said with pride that ‘since when we started test running, there has not been any shortage on the market since May 2013’.
He gave the assurance that TOR, being the mother of distribution, had made its storage facilities available to enable the company store reserves when the need arose.
The depot, initiated by the Fuel Trade Limited but operating under the name Tema Fuel Company, is currently under going a test running to check teething problems before full operations start.
With the entry of the privately-owned Ghanaian import and distribution company, it is expected that there would be abundant gas, gasoline and diesel on the market to create competition among distributors.
The company also has a facility in Takoradi, where LPG is discharged directly onto trucks.
Reports indicate that market demands for LPG now stand at 1,100 of gas, 500,000 litres of super (gasoline) and 800,000 litres of diesel, daily.
It was expected that the other bulk distribution companies in the sector would supply the remaining shortfall, which is minimal.
The Daily Graphic found out that some fuel and gas tankers were already loading for distribution as part of its test operations.
The depot has a weekly delivery schedule during which products made up of a LPG, super and diesel, were delivered and, therefore, did not foresee any shortage.
The project is near completion and has started test supplies to solve all teething problems on the equipment.
It was gathered that gas from the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) was predominantly for power generation unless it was separated.
The source said laboratory equipment for that purpose were not available to provide what could be used for domestic and smaller machines and, therefore, would not be of use to domestic consumers.
When the Daily Graphic got to the depot, some officials from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Customs Division and a technical team from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) were checking the pumps on various tanks to ensure that they were in good conditions.
The depot has seven tanks with five for fuel, one for water and a mounded bullet tank purposely for LPG.
It also operates six loading bays for gas, gasoline and diesel, with each bay loading 200 tons in an hour.
This system of loading created efficiency and minimal delays at the loading bay.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at the depot, the Technical and Operations Director, Mr Andrews Barfi Owusu, disclosed that the components of the depot were adjustable and the depot could increase its intake when the need arises.
He said the company would not want to create overcapacity in the system, hence, the gap to enable other bulk distribution companies to take the shortfall.
Mr Owusu noted that the company’s intention was to contribute to government’s effort to make available fuel and gas to consumers
He said the decision to set up a depot came about when shortages of gas, especially, kept occurring because of the low capacity of existing distributors .
Mr Owusu said the ‘Tema Fuel Company would be able to satisfy the consumer market even if TOR shuts down’.
He narrated how clearing of the land started in September 2010 and by April 2013, was ready to start importing fuel and gas for test running.
He said Fuel Trade had, for the last three months, been experimenting with the computerised systems, equipments, pumps and tanks.
Mr Owusu was optimistic that shortages of fuel would be things of the past.
He noted that there was a collaboration between all bulk distribution companies operating in the sector and said the depot would work closely with the companies to make fuel and gas available on the market.
Mr Owusu said with pride that ‘since when we started test running, there has not been any shortage on the market since May 2013’.
He gave the assurance that TOR, being the mother of distribution, had made its storage facilities available to enable the company store reserves when the need arose.
Changing face of the University of Ghana, Legon -gsmbizmen
The
University of Ghana, Legon has over the years gone through many changes
with the aim of offering better tertiary education to Ghanaians and
foreigners.
The changes range from the review of courses and programmes to the provision of new facilities and other infrastructure.
The university, popularly referred to as Legon, the name of the village where it is located, is a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the League of World Universities.
It was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the then British colonies. The Asquith Commission, which was set up in 1943 to investigate higher education, recommended among other things, the setting up of university colleges in association with the University of London. This was followed by a number of commissions in different regions.
The West Africa Commission was under the Chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. Walter Elliot. The Elliot Commission published a majority report which recommended the establishment of two university colleges in the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Nigeria, and a minority report which held that only one university college for the whole of British West Africa was feasible.
The British Government at first accepted the minority report of the Elliot Commission and decided that a university college for the whole of British West Africa should be established at Ibadan in Nigeria. But the people of the Gold Coast could not accept this recommendation. Led by the scholar and politician, the late Dr J.B. Danquah, they urged the Gold Coast Government to inform the British government that the Gold Coast could support a university college. The British government accordingly reviewed its decision and agreed to the establishment of the university college of the Gold Coast.
First site
At the time, Achimota College was in many respects one of the best institutions in Africa. It had spacious grounds, good buildings and compound, with a library of 16,000 books. There was therefore a consensus that the new university college should grow out of Achimota College, in accordance with the wishes of the people.
So on October 11, 1948, the formal opening of the University College of the Gold Coast took place in the dining hall of the western compound of Achimota College. Subsequently, the university college operated from the western compound and the secondary school on the eastern compound until the 1950s when construction work at the new site for the university college commenced, and the university moved gradually into the new campus at Legon.
Within the campus are the traditional halls of residence; Commonwealth Hall, Legon Hall, Akuafo Hall, Mensah Sarbah Hall and Volta Hall. There are also departments, lecture theatres and laboratories; sports fields and a central cafeteria. Also, there is the Great Hall, where major indoor programmes such as lectures are held. It has a seating capacity of 1,500.
The university will have a new frontage once the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina stretch of the road is completed.
Students/lecturer population
The university started in 1948 with a total of 90 students, made up of 88 males and 2 females. However, the population has increased drastically over the past 60 years. According to the 2012-2013 academic board the university has 37,531 students made up of full-time, part-time, City Campus, weekend, distance education and sandwich programmes.
When it started initially, seven post-secondary staff: Four teaching staff and three administrators of Achimota College were appointed as the nucleus staff for the new university.
Now the university boasts 1,139 lecturers, comprising 850 males and 289 females.
Faculties
Academic life of the University of Ghana is centered on colleges, faculties, institutes/schools and centres of research/ learning. The university started with three faculties - Arts, Science and Commerce (preliminary Economics) in 1948. Now there are six faculties -Arts, Law, Science, Social Sciences, Business School and Engineering Sciences.
Colleges
There are two main colleges in the university. They are the College of Health Sciences which comprises five schools and an institute, and the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences which comprises two schools and an institute.
Legon Staff village
The university has a staff village which currently has 248 housing units for its junior staff. It was established to provide accommodation for artisans such as electricians, carpenters and cooks who worked at the university.
Infrastructure
As part of the process of change, the university has undertaken a number of initiatives to realise its objectives of providing quality tertiary education. The infrastructure include new halls of residence, staff bungalows, lecture halls, laboratories and the construction and expansion of roads.
Today, four new additional halls of residence to accommodate 8,000 students have been built. This is to meet the increasing demand for accommodation by students. Securing accommodation in the past was a problem and some students took advantage of the inadequacy of the halls to make money. Issues that readily come to mind are the sale of beds to fellow students and ‘perching’, resulting in overcrowding in the traditional halls of residence-Commonwealth, Legon, Akuafo, Mensah Sarbah and Volta.
New Halls
The four new halls named after Professor Alexander Kwapong, a former Vice Chancellor; Dr Hilla Limann, President of the Third Republic; Dr Jean Aka Hall, named after a distinguished alumnus who was instrumental in mobilising funds for the construction of the Jubilee Hall, and Elizabeth Frances Sey, first female graduate of the university, have eased the accommodation problem faced by students drastically. Apart from that, the new halls have also brightened the aerial view of the university campus, from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) section.
At the new halls four students occupy a room, with a spacious and conducive environment for learning. At the new halls, rainwater is harvested and there are biogas facilities.
Four students; Ms Belinda Tweboah, Ms Linda Tetteh and Messrs Ben Boateng and Samuel Koomson, lauded the initiative that led to the construction of the facilities. They said they believed that such huge projects should be done in other tertiary institutions since the lack of conducive environment for sleeping or relaxation was a problem.
Ms Tweneboah said being accommodated at a hall was a great relief to her “because in the past we heard so many reports on problems with securing accommodation”.
“I am okay here and everything is going on smoothly. These facilities have brought great relief to us,” she said.
Ms Tetteh indicated that the only problem students occasionally experienced was the lack of water, adding “once this has been completely solved I believe everything would be okay”.
“I like the environment and it’s good for learning,” she said.
Messrs Boateng and Koomson called for immediate action to address the water problem.
The Director of Physical Development and Municipal Services, Mr Philip Azundow, said the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had disappointed the authorities since they had indicated they would provide water to at the new facilities. Notwithstanding that, he said, the authorities had been able to provide some boreholes to meet water needs of students.
The university has also allowed some private developers to build halls of residence. These are: United Nations Hall, Bani Hall, James Topp Nelson Yankah Hall and Africa Union Hall. These are expected to provide accommodation for students at Legon.
Tolling of roads
The roads that link the various halls, departments and lecture halls are currently being given a facelift. They are being asphalted and toll booths would be installed when they are completed. This means that vehicles that enter and exit the campus will have to pay tolls. A flat rate of GHc1 is to be paid by users of the roads upon every entry.
A total of 9.6 kilometres of roads are being resealed and asphalted. According to Mr Azundow, Accra has expanded and many vehicles use the Legon road to avoid traffic, among other things. The tolling, he said, was to cater for the wear and tear as a result of the regular use of the roads. The project is expected to cost GH¢7 million. The asphalted roads would also have speed humps to control the flow of vehicles. The tolling is expected to start later this month and the six entry points to the university would have the toll booths.
According to the site engineer for the asphalting and resealing of roads, Mr Kwaku Tsegah, 70 per cent of the asphalting and resealing of the roads had been done.
“Everything is okay and the work is going on smoothly,” he said, and expressed the hope that work would be completed on schedule.
Works remaining, he said, included the construction of drains and asphalting of the road leading to the Teachers’ Fund Hostel.
Commercial, private vehicle drivers
While some drivers have welcomed the initiative, others think it would increase transport fares on campus.
A taxi driver, Stephen Quartey, said driving on good roads “prolongs the lifespan of your vehicle”, and added that although it would mean extra cost to people, the idea was not bad.
“I know some of my colleagues will not agree with me but we must pay for what we destroy. Everything is government but we have to be responsible too,” he said.
Adjei Mensah, another taxi driver, strongly disagreed with his colleague. For him, the authorities were not considering the fact that the toll would be passed on to students.
“Once I pay GH¢ 1, I will also add that GH¢ 1 to the lorry fare,” he said, and urged the authorities to either scrap the initiative or reduce the toll to 50 pesewas.
However, Mr Azundow said the intention was not to burden students but to ensure that the roads were in good shape regularly for the smooth movement of people. Moreover, he said, the late President J.E.A. Mills sanctioned the initiative.
Students
Rachael Ahiable believes “We don’t have to be going out and coming as and when we feel like it”. We must use our time and money judiciously because if you want to be going out and coming in it means you would have to pay more”.
Moses Arthur said it was up to the authorities to take decisions that would improve facilities and infrastructure to promote academic activities.
“We are not going to be on campus forever. All you have to do is to regulate your movements to save you the trouble of spending all your money on transportation fare,” he said.
Amelia Botchway said the authorities had decided to implement the initiative and what everybody had to do was to brace up for it.She supported the initiative and said that state institutions tended to rely too much on government for funding.
“I believe this would boost the internally-generated funds of the university. Money generated could be used to put up more facilities to admit more students. It is a good idea,” she said, adding that “Ghanaians don’t want to be creative but do things the same way all the time”.
Closed Circuit Television
To maintain the credibility of its examination and deal with the practice of cheating, the university has mounted closed circuit television (CCTV) systems in the examination halls. The authorities would not give much detail on the facilities but believe it would go a long way to ensure sanity during examination.
Control of students in traditional halls
To control the number of students who access the halls, the university purchased a turnstile machine to begin a pilot exercise at the Commonwealth Hall but before the equipment could be installed, it was burnt by suspected arsonists on April 30, 2013 at about 2 a.m.
The equipment, bought at a cost of GH¢ 48,000, was supposed to be used as part of the university’s measures to ensure that the halls of residence remained decongested.
The turnstile machine, also called a baffle gate, is a gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be used to enforce one-way traffic of people and in addition, can restrict passage to only people who insert a coin, ticket or pass.
Other projects
There is also the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Conference facility for the hosting of various programmes. The facility has been completed, creating the opportunity for the hosting of programmes.
Other ongoing projects include the Earth and Health Science infrastructure. A teaching hospital project has also taken off.
The Balme Library pond has also been given a new lease of life. There are 34 new boreholes to augment water supply from the water company.
The university is looking for a strategic partner to complete work on the stadium, along with the provision of staff housing project.
Security/police station
Eleven years after the establishment of the university, a police station was put up (1959) as part of measures to maintain law and order in and outside campus. Petty thefts, robberies and other criminal activities were reported in the past.
However, the Head of Security, ACP Amadu Salifu (retd), told the Daily Graphic that there have been improvement in the security system. For instance, he said, when he took over in 2007, the first thing he observed was that guards had not gone through the requisite training. Moreover, he said, some of them were not active because they were old and weak, and “supervision too was almost zero”.
“The first thing we did when I took over was to revamp the system to get more active guards. I convinced the authorities and we did a mass recruitment,” he said.
Mr Salifu said the number of guards was subsequently increased from 200 to 321, while items such as uniforms, raincoats, batons and torches were requested for to enable the guards work efficiently.
“With the new halls I think we should have about 400 guards,” he said. Now, he added, apart from sensitisation of students and staff, there were mobile patrols in the day and regular night patrols.
The entry points to the campus are closed at midnight and opened at 5 a.m. After 7 p.m. no university vehicle is supposed to enter or go out of the campus.
Mr Salifu said he monitored the “security guards to ensure that we are working”, adding that there were also plainclothes security personnel who monitor and report security issues.
His worry is that some students did not take security issues seriously when it came to petty thefts. For instance, he said, while some of the students left their doors ajar, others did not assist in investigations when into petty thefts.
“Some of them also allow themselves to be duped by confidence tricksters.
Vice Chancellor
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, told the Daily Graphic after the naming of the Atta Mills/Akua Kuenyehia Law Faculty Building, among other things, that the university community was waking up to the fact that it had to develop its infrastructure rapidly to cope with the large number of students.
“We have a large number of students these days, compared to 20 years ago. So it is inevitable for us to push the agenda of developing our infrastructure,” he said.
The changes range from the review of courses and programmes to the provision of new facilities and other infrastructure.
The university, popularly referred to as Legon, the name of the village where it is located, is a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the League of World Universities.
It was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the then British colonies. The Asquith Commission, which was set up in 1943 to investigate higher education, recommended among other things, the setting up of university colleges in association with the University of London. This was followed by a number of commissions in different regions.
The West Africa Commission was under the Chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. Walter Elliot. The Elliot Commission published a majority report which recommended the establishment of two university colleges in the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Nigeria, and a minority report which held that only one university college for the whole of British West Africa was feasible.
The British Government at first accepted the minority report of the Elliot Commission and decided that a university college for the whole of British West Africa should be established at Ibadan in Nigeria. But the people of the Gold Coast could not accept this recommendation. Led by the scholar and politician, the late Dr J.B. Danquah, they urged the Gold Coast Government to inform the British government that the Gold Coast could support a university college. The British government accordingly reviewed its decision and agreed to the establishment of the university college of the Gold Coast.
First site
At the time, Achimota College was in many respects one of the best institutions in Africa. It had spacious grounds, good buildings and compound, with a library of 16,000 books. There was therefore a consensus that the new university college should grow out of Achimota College, in accordance with the wishes of the people.
So on October 11, 1948, the formal opening of the University College of the Gold Coast took place in the dining hall of the western compound of Achimota College. Subsequently, the university college operated from the western compound and the secondary school on the eastern compound until the 1950s when construction work at the new site for the university college commenced, and the university moved gradually into the new campus at Legon.
Within the campus are the traditional halls of residence; Commonwealth Hall, Legon Hall, Akuafo Hall, Mensah Sarbah Hall and Volta Hall. There are also departments, lecture theatres and laboratories; sports fields and a central cafeteria. Also, there is the Great Hall, where major indoor programmes such as lectures are held. It has a seating capacity of 1,500.
The university will have a new frontage once the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina stretch of the road is completed.
Students/lecturer population
The university started in 1948 with a total of 90 students, made up of 88 males and 2 females. However, the population has increased drastically over the past 60 years. According to the 2012-2013 academic board the university has 37,531 students made up of full-time, part-time, City Campus, weekend, distance education and sandwich programmes.
When it started initially, seven post-secondary staff: Four teaching staff and three administrators of Achimota College were appointed as the nucleus staff for the new university.
Now the university boasts 1,139 lecturers, comprising 850 males and 289 females.
Faculties
Academic life of the University of Ghana is centered on colleges, faculties, institutes/schools and centres of research/ learning. The university started with three faculties - Arts, Science and Commerce (preliminary Economics) in 1948. Now there are six faculties -Arts, Law, Science, Social Sciences, Business School and Engineering Sciences.
Colleges
There are two main colleges in the university. They are the College of Health Sciences which comprises five schools and an institute, and the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences which comprises two schools and an institute.
Legon Staff village
The university has a staff village which currently has 248 housing units for its junior staff. It was established to provide accommodation for artisans such as electricians, carpenters and cooks who worked at the university.
Infrastructure
As part of the process of change, the university has undertaken a number of initiatives to realise its objectives of providing quality tertiary education. The infrastructure include new halls of residence, staff bungalows, lecture halls, laboratories and the construction and expansion of roads.
Today, four new additional halls of residence to accommodate 8,000 students have been built. This is to meet the increasing demand for accommodation by students. Securing accommodation in the past was a problem and some students took advantage of the inadequacy of the halls to make money. Issues that readily come to mind are the sale of beds to fellow students and ‘perching’, resulting in overcrowding in the traditional halls of residence-Commonwealth, Legon, Akuafo, Mensah Sarbah and Volta.
New Halls
The four new halls named after Professor Alexander Kwapong, a former Vice Chancellor; Dr Hilla Limann, President of the Third Republic; Dr Jean Aka Hall, named after a distinguished alumnus who was instrumental in mobilising funds for the construction of the Jubilee Hall, and Elizabeth Frances Sey, first female graduate of the university, have eased the accommodation problem faced by students drastically. Apart from that, the new halls have also brightened the aerial view of the university campus, from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) section.
At the new halls four students occupy a room, with a spacious and conducive environment for learning. At the new halls, rainwater is harvested and there are biogas facilities.
Four students; Ms Belinda Tweboah, Ms Linda Tetteh and Messrs Ben Boateng and Samuel Koomson, lauded the initiative that led to the construction of the facilities. They said they believed that such huge projects should be done in other tertiary institutions since the lack of conducive environment for sleeping or relaxation was a problem.
Ms Tweneboah said being accommodated at a hall was a great relief to her “because in the past we heard so many reports on problems with securing accommodation”.
“I am okay here and everything is going on smoothly. These facilities have brought great relief to us,” she said.
Ms Tetteh indicated that the only problem students occasionally experienced was the lack of water, adding “once this has been completely solved I believe everything would be okay”.
“I like the environment and it’s good for learning,” she said.
Messrs Boateng and Koomson called for immediate action to address the water problem.
The Director of Physical Development and Municipal Services, Mr Philip Azundow, said the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had disappointed the authorities since they had indicated they would provide water to at the new facilities. Notwithstanding that, he said, the authorities had been able to provide some boreholes to meet water needs of students.
The university has also allowed some private developers to build halls of residence. These are: United Nations Hall, Bani Hall, James Topp Nelson Yankah Hall and Africa Union Hall. These are expected to provide accommodation for students at Legon.
Tolling of roads
The roads that link the various halls, departments and lecture halls are currently being given a facelift. They are being asphalted and toll booths would be installed when they are completed. This means that vehicles that enter and exit the campus will have to pay tolls. A flat rate of GHc1 is to be paid by users of the roads upon every entry.
A total of 9.6 kilometres of roads are being resealed and asphalted. According to Mr Azundow, Accra has expanded and many vehicles use the Legon road to avoid traffic, among other things. The tolling, he said, was to cater for the wear and tear as a result of the regular use of the roads. The project is expected to cost GH¢7 million. The asphalted roads would also have speed humps to control the flow of vehicles. The tolling is expected to start later this month and the six entry points to the university would have the toll booths.
According to the site engineer for the asphalting and resealing of roads, Mr Kwaku Tsegah, 70 per cent of the asphalting and resealing of the roads had been done.
“Everything is okay and the work is going on smoothly,” he said, and expressed the hope that work would be completed on schedule.
Works remaining, he said, included the construction of drains and asphalting of the road leading to the Teachers’ Fund Hostel.
Commercial, private vehicle drivers
While some drivers have welcomed the initiative, others think it would increase transport fares on campus.
A taxi driver, Stephen Quartey, said driving on good roads “prolongs the lifespan of your vehicle”, and added that although it would mean extra cost to people, the idea was not bad.
“I know some of my colleagues will not agree with me but we must pay for what we destroy. Everything is government but we have to be responsible too,” he said.
Adjei Mensah, another taxi driver, strongly disagreed with his colleague. For him, the authorities were not considering the fact that the toll would be passed on to students.
“Once I pay GH¢ 1, I will also add that GH¢ 1 to the lorry fare,” he said, and urged the authorities to either scrap the initiative or reduce the toll to 50 pesewas.
However, Mr Azundow said the intention was not to burden students but to ensure that the roads were in good shape regularly for the smooth movement of people. Moreover, he said, the late President J.E.A. Mills sanctioned the initiative.
Students
Rachael Ahiable believes “We don’t have to be going out and coming as and when we feel like it”. We must use our time and money judiciously because if you want to be going out and coming in it means you would have to pay more”.
Moses Arthur said it was up to the authorities to take decisions that would improve facilities and infrastructure to promote academic activities.
“We are not going to be on campus forever. All you have to do is to regulate your movements to save you the trouble of spending all your money on transportation fare,” he said.
Amelia Botchway said the authorities had decided to implement the initiative and what everybody had to do was to brace up for it.She supported the initiative and said that state institutions tended to rely too much on government for funding.
“I believe this would boost the internally-generated funds of the university. Money generated could be used to put up more facilities to admit more students. It is a good idea,” she said, adding that “Ghanaians don’t want to be creative but do things the same way all the time”.
Closed Circuit Television
To maintain the credibility of its examination and deal with the practice of cheating, the university has mounted closed circuit television (CCTV) systems in the examination halls. The authorities would not give much detail on the facilities but believe it would go a long way to ensure sanity during examination.
Control of students in traditional halls
To control the number of students who access the halls, the university purchased a turnstile machine to begin a pilot exercise at the Commonwealth Hall but before the equipment could be installed, it was burnt by suspected arsonists on April 30, 2013 at about 2 a.m.
The equipment, bought at a cost of GH¢ 48,000, was supposed to be used as part of the university’s measures to ensure that the halls of residence remained decongested.
The turnstile machine, also called a baffle gate, is a gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be used to enforce one-way traffic of people and in addition, can restrict passage to only people who insert a coin, ticket or pass.
Other projects
There is also the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Conference facility for the hosting of various programmes. The facility has been completed, creating the opportunity for the hosting of programmes.
Other ongoing projects include the Earth and Health Science infrastructure. A teaching hospital project has also taken off.
The Balme Library pond has also been given a new lease of life. There are 34 new boreholes to augment water supply from the water company.
The university is looking for a strategic partner to complete work on the stadium, along with the provision of staff housing project.
Security/police station
Eleven years after the establishment of the university, a police station was put up (1959) as part of measures to maintain law and order in and outside campus. Petty thefts, robberies and other criminal activities were reported in the past.
However, the Head of Security, ACP Amadu Salifu (retd), told the Daily Graphic that there have been improvement in the security system. For instance, he said, when he took over in 2007, the first thing he observed was that guards had not gone through the requisite training. Moreover, he said, some of them were not active because they were old and weak, and “supervision too was almost zero”.
“The first thing we did when I took over was to revamp the system to get more active guards. I convinced the authorities and we did a mass recruitment,” he said.
Mr Salifu said the number of guards was subsequently increased from 200 to 321, while items such as uniforms, raincoats, batons and torches were requested for to enable the guards work efficiently.
“With the new halls I think we should have about 400 guards,” he said. Now, he added, apart from sensitisation of students and staff, there were mobile patrols in the day and regular night patrols.
The entry points to the campus are closed at midnight and opened at 5 a.m. After 7 p.m. no university vehicle is supposed to enter or go out of the campus.
Mr Salifu said he monitored the “security guards to ensure that we are working”, adding that there were also plainclothes security personnel who monitor and report security issues.
His worry is that some students did not take security issues seriously when it came to petty thefts. For instance, he said, while some of the students left their doors ajar, others did not assist in investigations when into petty thefts.
“Some of them also allow themselves to be duped by confidence tricksters.
Vice Chancellor
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, told the Daily Graphic after the naming of the Atta Mills/Akua Kuenyehia Law Faculty Building, among other things, that the university community was waking up to the fact that it had to develop its infrastructure rapidly to cope with the large number of students.
“We have a large number of students these days, compared to 20 years ago. So it is inevitable for us to push the agenda of developing our infrastructure,” he said.
To Brazil, Ghana must go! -gsmbizmen
One issue that has stirred up debate in national football circles of
late is the decision by officials of the Black Stars to reschedule the
decisive World Cup group qualifying match against contenders, the
Chipolopolo of Zambia, in Kumasi.
The issue is of such profound national interest that our joining the debate is sine qua non, so to speak.
Needless to reiterate that the decision by the GFA to shift the match from its original date of Sunday, September 8 to Friday, September 6 because of a contracted friendly international match between Ghana and Japan must have sparked the debate among the fans.
The query by some of the fans, which we tend to be in some agreement with, is why the friendly against Japan seems to take precedence over the World Cup qualifier as to cede the original date of the crucial game against Zambia to it.
What is more, what is the essence of this friendly in Japan coming within the space of three days after the qualifier in Kumasi?
Won’t our players be tired and worn out from jet lag as to make the competitiveness of this game compromised with the likelihood of the Stars falling heavily to their Japanese counterparts?
Mind you, aside the hosts, Brazil, Japan were the first team to have qualified for the 2014 World Cup and, therefore, are sitting pretty easy to welcome friendlies in preparation, unlike the Stars whose fate stands threatened by the now scheduled September 6 match against the Chipolopolo.
Why the divided attention? Play and win at all cost against Zambia then emplane immediately after the match for Japan. What if the Stars fail to win against Zambia (God forbid), will there be any motivation left for the friendly against Japan?
We have no doubt at all that the FA means well in arranging for the friendly international, partly as one of the preparations for the Stars in readiness for their final round-off match for eventual qualification for the World Cup after beating Zambia, and partly as a means of raising money for a rainy day.
But as the saying goes: What is money to the grasshopper! First things first, and in this regard it is the winning of the match against Zambia which must be the first consideration before anything else.
As far as we are concerned, once the Stars qualify for the World Cup there will be several international friendlies for preparation towards the ultimate, which is why we see the forthcoming one against Japan to be out of focus.
Meanwhile, what is the immediate programme of Coach Kwasi Appiah towards preparation for the match against Zambia, knowing that most of our players are with foreign clubs currently on tours preparing for their respective leagues, some of which will kick off a few weeks before Ghana’s World Cup qualifier?
There has also been a stony silence by Coach Appiah over whether or not he will recall Michael Essien, K. P. Boateng and the Ayew Brothers for the crucial match against Zambia, since the players have indicated their return from national team holiday after reported interventions by the FA itself and, not least, the Presidential fiat by His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama.
These are matters to be resolved quickly to put the Stars’ house in perfect order for the big match against the Chipolopolo.
To Brazil, the Stars must go in 2014, willy-nilly!
Needless to reiterate that the decision by the GFA to shift the match from its original date of Sunday, September 8 to Friday, September 6 because of a contracted friendly international match between Ghana and Japan must have sparked the debate among the fans.
The query by some of the fans, which we tend to be in some agreement with, is why the friendly against Japan seems to take precedence over the World Cup qualifier as to cede the original date of the crucial game against Zambia to it.
What is more, what is the essence of this friendly in Japan coming within the space of three days after the qualifier in Kumasi?
Won’t our players be tired and worn out from jet lag as to make the competitiveness of this game compromised with the likelihood of the Stars falling heavily to their Japanese counterparts?
Mind you, aside the hosts, Brazil, Japan were the first team to have qualified for the 2014 World Cup and, therefore, are sitting pretty easy to welcome friendlies in preparation, unlike the Stars whose fate stands threatened by the now scheduled September 6 match against the Chipolopolo.
Why the divided attention? Play and win at all cost against Zambia then emplane immediately after the match for Japan. What if the Stars fail to win against Zambia (God forbid), will there be any motivation left for the friendly against Japan?
We have no doubt at all that the FA means well in arranging for the friendly international, partly as one of the preparations for the Stars in readiness for their final round-off match for eventual qualification for the World Cup after beating Zambia, and partly as a means of raising money for a rainy day.
But as the saying goes: What is money to the grasshopper! First things first, and in this regard it is the winning of the match against Zambia which must be the first consideration before anything else.
As far as we are concerned, once the Stars qualify for the World Cup there will be several international friendlies for preparation towards the ultimate, which is why we see the forthcoming one against Japan to be out of focus.
Meanwhile, what is the immediate programme of Coach Kwasi Appiah towards preparation for the match against Zambia, knowing that most of our players are with foreign clubs currently on tours preparing for their respective leagues, some of which will kick off a few weeks before Ghana’s World Cup qualifier?
There has also been a stony silence by Coach Appiah over whether or not he will recall Michael Essien, K. P. Boateng and the Ayew Brothers for the crucial match against Zambia, since the players have indicated their return from national team holiday after reported interventions by the FA itself and, not least, the Presidential fiat by His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama.
These are matters to be resolved quickly to put the Stars’ house in perfect order for the big match against the Chipolopolo.
To Brazil, the Stars must go in 2014, willy-nilly!
First Lady receives breast cancer award -gsmbizmen
The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Dramani Mahama, has received an award at
the just-ended Forum for African First Ladies Against Breast and
Cervical Cancer for championing, promoting and campaigning against
breast and cervical cancer.
She was also recognised and commended for the enthusiasm she has brought to the Forum of African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer and the support she has given the forum thus far.
The Director General of the Forum for African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer, Princess Nikki Onyeri of Nigeria, praised Mrs Mahama for the level of compassion shown towards cancer patients in the short period that she has been the First Lady of Ghana.
The forum, which attracted first ladies across Africa, was adjudged as the most attended since its inception seven years ago.
It was attended by African first ladies, ministers of health, African parliamentarians, scientists, civil society organisations and Her High Royal Highness, Infanta Cristina, Princess of Barcelona, Spain.
Mrs Mahama was involved in charity and philanthropic work long before she became Ghana’s First Lady.
She supports more than seven orphanages across Ghana, supports brilliant, needy students and was recently appointed Aids Ambassador for the Heart to Heart (H2H) campaign against AIDS and stigmatisation.
She was also recognised and commended for the enthusiasm she has brought to the Forum of African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer and the support she has given the forum thus far.
The Director General of the Forum for African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer, Princess Nikki Onyeri of Nigeria, praised Mrs Mahama for the level of compassion shown towards cancer patients in the short period that she has been the First Lady of Ghana.
The forum, which attracted first ladies across Africa, was adjudged as the most attended since its inception seven years ago.
It was attended by African first ladies, ministers of health, African parliamentarians, scientists, civil society organisations and Her High Royal Highness, Infanta Cristina, Princess of Barcelona, Spain.
Mrs Mahama was involved in charity and philanthropic work long before she became Ghana’s First Lady.
She supports more than seven orphanages across Ghana, supports brilliant, needy students and was recently appointed Aids Ambassador for the Heart to Heart (H2H) campaign against AIDS and stigmatisation.
Obese women prone to diseases -gsmbizmen
Many women are very concerned about their weight, as this affects
their shape. Being obese makes one shapeless and some women consider
this unattractive to men, although some men also like their women big.
Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool used to measure obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilogrammes by his or her height in metres square. People with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg per metre square are considered overweight. People with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese.
One can become obese when one takes in more calories than the body is able to use. A calorie is a unit of energy in the food you eat. Your body needs this energy to function and to be active. But if you take in more energy than your body uses, you will gain weight.
Obese women are at a higher risk of multiple cancers, including endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. Women who are obese also have a higher risk of low back pain and knee osteoarthritis.
Obesity negatively affects both contraception and fertility as well. Maternal obesity is linked with higher rates of Cesarean Section as well as higher rates of high-risk obstetrical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Pregnancy outcomes are negatively affected by maternal obesity, with increased risk of neonatal mortality and malformations.
According to health experts, there seems to be an association between obesity and depression in women, though cultural factors may influence this association.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) situation and trends worldwide, at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
The organisation further states that in low and lower middle income countries, including Ghana, obesity among women was approximately that double among men.
Eating too many calories or not getting enough physical activity, one’s environment and culture and genes can lead to one becoming obese
Health experts say excess body weight is not the only health risk but also the places where the body fats are stored also affect ones health.
Women with a "pear" shape are said to store fat in their hips and buttocks while women with an "apple" shape store fat around their waists. If one’s waist is more than 35 inches, one may have a higher risk of weight-related health problems.
Also the use of natural dietary supplements which are mostly from plants such as Aloe Vera Tea, Omega 3 and 9 supplements according to Mr Jesse Akpanglo-Nartey, a marketing executive with Forever Living Products of the United States of America, helps people lose weight naturally.
According to him, the products which include Forever Lean, which helps one not to absorb lots of calories; Aloe Vera Tea, which helps to eliminate gas in one’s system and Arctic Sea, which is made up of Omega 3 and Omega 9 supplements, help in burning fat from the body and circulatory system.
Natural supplements, he said, delivered instant results but he also advised people to exercise, saying that the difference between using natural dietary supplements and chemicals to lose weight is that unlike the others, with the natural supplement, the weight (when lost) does not come back.
Below are some of the testimonies from users of natural dietary supplements accessed from www.foevernutrilean.com
• Having started the Forever Nutri-Lean programme, it has been much easier for me to control my diet throughout the day. I have lost 20 pounds and feel much more energetic. What I like most about the programme is the exercise that is recommended, since sports are an essential part of my life.
• Thanks to Forever Nutri-Lean products. I have achieved what I have been trying to do since childhood. I have lost more than 60 pounds, and I feel wonderful, with lots of energy.
• I had many doubts when I first started the natural supplement programme. I had tried many other weight loss programmes before, yet had not obtained the results I was expecting. Having used both of Forever's programmes, I have now lost over 23 pounds, and I am very thankful to the product for helping me improve my health a great deal.
• My experience with the Forever Nutri-Lean programme is one of great success and happiness. Having started the programme five months ago, I have now lost a total of 20 pounds and feel much better than ever! It is a lifestyle change that includes following the programme and increasing the amount of exercise that I do. Now I carefully watch what I eat, and have decreased the amount of sweets that I consume. My exercise includes walking for 45 minutes, three days a week.
• Forever Nutri-Lean products and programme are really excellent because they are able to bring about changes in you that make you feel healthier and cleaner inside. Using the products, I was able to lose 15 pounds. Now I feel very happy and know that I can lose more weight.
By Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho / Daily Graphic / Ghana
Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool used to measure obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilogrammes by his or her height in metres square. People with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg per metre square are considered overweight. People with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese.
One can become obese when one takes in more calories than the body is able to use. A calorie is a unit of energy in the food you eat. Your body needs this energy to function and to be active. But if you take in more energy than your body uses, you will gain weight.
Effects of being obese
Obesity negatively impacts the health of women in many ways. Being obese increases the relative risk of heart disease, stroke, type two diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems, arthritis, gallbladder disease and some cancers.
Obese women are at a higher risk of multiple cancers, including endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. Women who are obese also have a higher risk of low back pain and knee osteoarthritis.
Obesity negatively affects both contraception and fertility as well. Maternal obesity is linked with higher rates of Cesarean Section as well as higher rates of high-risk obstetrical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Pregnancy outcomes are negatively affected by maternal obesity, with increased risk of neonatal mortality and malformations.
According to health experts, there seems to be an association between obesity and depression in women, though cultural factors may influence this association.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) situation and trends worldwide, at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
The organisation further states that in low and lower middle income countries, including Ghana, obesity among women was approximately that double among men.
Eating too many calories or not getting enough physical activity, one’s environment and culture and genes can lead to one becoming obese
Health experts say excess body weight is not the only health risk but also the places where the body fats are stored also affect ones health.
Women with a "pear" shape are said to store fat in their hips and buttocks while women with an "apple" shape store fat around their waists. If one’s waist is more than 35 inches, one may have a higher risk of weight-related health problems.
What you can do
Regular activity can help prevent unhealthy weight gain and also help with weight loss, when combined with lower calorie intake.
Also the use of natural dietary supplements which are mostly from plants such as Aloe Vera Tea, Omega 3 and 9 supplements according to Mr Jesse Akpanglo-Nartey, a marketing executive with Forever Living Products of the United States of America, helps people lose weight naturally.
According to him, the products which include Forever Lean, which helps one not to absorb lots of calories; Aloe Vera Tea, which helps to eliminate gas in one’s system and Arctic Sea, which is made up of Omega 3 and Omega 9 supplements, help in burning fat from the body and circulatory system.
Natural supplements, he said, delivered instant results but he also advised people to exercise, saying that the difference between using natural dietary supplements and chemicals to lose weight is that unlike the others, with the natural supplement, the weight (when lost) does not come back.
Below are some of the testimonies from users of natural dietary supplements accessed from www.foevernutrilean.com
• Having started the Forever Nutri-Lean programme, it has been much easier for me to control my diet throughout the day. I have lost 20 pounds and feel much more energetic. What I like most about the programme is the exercise that is recommended, since sports are an essential part of my life.
• Thanks to Forever Nutri-Lean products. I have achieved what I have been trying to do since childhood. I have lost more than 60 pounds, and I feel wonderful, with lots of energy.
• I had many doubts when I first started the natural supplement programme. I had tried many other weight loss programmes before, yet had not obtained the results I was expecting. Having used both of Forever's programmes, I have now lost over 23 pounds, and I am very thankful to the product for helping me improve my health a great deal.
• My experience with the Forever Nutri-Lean programme is one of great success and happiness. Having started the programme five months ago, I have now lost a total of 20 pounds and feel much better than ever! It is a lifestyle change that includes following the programme and increasing the amount of exercise that I do. Now I carefully watch what I eat, and have decreased the amount of sweets that I consume. My exercise includes walking for 45 minutes, three days a week.
• Forever Nutri-Lean products and programme are really excellent because they are able to bring about changes in you that make you feel healthier and cleaner inside. Using the products, I was able to lose 15 pounds. Now I feel very happy and know that I can lose more weight.
By Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho / Daily Graphic / Ghana
University of Ghana consulted students on levies -gsmbizmen
The Vice- Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ernest
Aryeetey, has explained that students were consulted before the
introduction of the GH¢100 levy to be paid from the 2013-2014 academic
year.
During the consultation, he said, some students supported it, while others were against it, and a majority of them were indifferent to the fee which was being charged to enable the university to raise funds to complete three building projects.
The projects are the Faculty of Arts, School of Performing Arts and the School of Allied Sciences.
Addressing the press in Accra on Wednesday on a wide range of development issues in the university, Prof. Aryeetey said the university had been obliged to, as a result of its growing needs and the need to finance its projects, ask its students for help.
“So at the beginning of this academic year, we made students aware that they would be required to help, that many of these things (projects) cannot be done simply by the state nor simply from looking at the private sector, so students would have to contribute.
“In this regard, starting from February this year, soon after the council of the university had approved the fee structure for the coming year, I went round all the halls of residence to canvass the views of students on various possible measures that we could take, and one of the things I brought to the table in the discussions with students was the imposition of a levy of GH¢100 to be paid by each student for a specific purpose.”
Prof. Aryeetey said the university would need GH¢4 million to complete the first two buildings, and was therefore requiring each of the 38,000 students to contribute GHC100 towards the projects.
The process at arriving at the levy, he said, involved students leaders at every stage, from the finance committee, executive committee and the university council level.
He said the university recognised the different backgrounds the students came from and so it was its obligation to assist those who could not finance their stay in the university.
Prof. Aryeetey mentioned the students’ financial aid that supported the students, adding that unfortunately, most students in the past did not apply to the financial aid office for support.
In response to pleas from students, he said, the university had decided that in the coming academic year, students would not need to pay all their fees at a go, and that “they can pay 50 per cent in the first semester and 50 per cent in the second semester, a major variation of the university’s policy that required all students to pay their fees in full at the beginning of the academic year”.
“Effectively we are looking for solutions to the problems of Ghana, that is what research is going to allow us to do. We believe that the functions that we performed for the nation over the last 65 years are such that we need to move on to another level, largely because there are other institutions that are capable of filling whichever gaps we leave behind.”
The four colleges are the current College of Health Sciences, which is being restructured, the College of Basic Applied Sciences (an aggregation of the existing Faculty of Science, College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences and Faculty of Engineering Sciences), the College of Humanities (an aggregation of the current Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Law and the Business School) and the new College of Education, designed to bring improved teaching methods and new technology into the way people are prepared for a teaching career at the basic, secondary and tertiary levels.
“The four colleges should make it easier to take decisions on academic programmes, reach students and make students reach a larger breadth of programmes. So in decentralising, we wish to make it easier for our researchers to do research, we wish to make it easier for our lecturers to teach and we wish to make it easier for our students to have access to more programmes of academic nature”.
Prof. Aryeetey added that apart from having the colleges in place, the university believed that its research should have a clearer focus so instead of doing everything, “we should focus on distinct areas that would add to the university stature.”
“We have decided to focus our research on four areas; malaria, food production and food processing, climate change adaptation and establishment of a centre of excellence for policy monitoring and evaluation.”
He said as Ghana introduced new initiatives in social protection and other areas, it was important that a lot of studies were done into the impact of those polices on the intended beneficiaries.
As part of the process of becoming a research university, Prof. Aryeetey indicated that the university was restructuring its PhD programmes by moving from a less formalised way of conducting PhD research to a much more structured way found in many universities
During the consultation, he said, some students supported it, while others were against it, and a majority of them were indifferent to the fee which was being charged to enable the university to raise funds to complete three building projects.
The projects are the Faculty of Arts, School of Performing Arts and the School of Allied Sciences.
Addressing the press in Accra on Wednesday on a wide range of development issues in the university, Prof. Aryeetey said the university had been obliged to, as a result of its growing needs and the need to finance its projects, ask its students for help.
“So at the beginning of this academic year, we made students aware that they would be required to help, that many of these things (projects) cannot be done simply by the state nor simply from looking at the private sector, so students would have to contribute.
“In this regard, starting from February this year, soon after the council of the university had approved the fee structure for the coming year, I went round all the halls of residence to canvass the views of students on various possible measures that we could take, and one of the things I brought to the table in the discussions with students was the imposition of a levy of GH¢100 to be paid by each student for a specific purpose.”
Prof. Aryeetey said the university would need GH¢4 million to complete the first two buildings, and was therefore requiring each of the 38,000 students to contribute GHC100 towards the projects.
The process at arriving at the levy, he said, involved students leaders at every stage, from the finance committee, executive committee and the university council level.
He said the university recognised the different backgrounds the students came from and so it was its obligation to assist those who could not finance their stay in the university.
Prof. Aryeetey mentioned the students’ financial aid that supported the students, adding that unfortunately, most students in the past did not apply to the financial aid office for support.
In response to pleas from students, he said, the university had decided that in the coming academic year, students would not need to pay all their fees at a go, and that “they can pay 50 per cent in the first semester and 50 per cent in the second semester, a major variation of the university’s policy that required all students to pay their fees in full at the beginning of the academic year”.
2013-2014 Admissions
On admissions for the 2013-2014 academic year, Prof. Aryeetey noted that the university had taken a decision to provide admission to as many students as possible without unduly burdening the university structures.Research university
The first thing, he said, the authorities were doing was to make the University of Ghana a research university, and that as a research university, the institution would focus more and more on the problems that gravitated against the enhancement of the economy.“Effectively we are looking for solutions to the problems of Ghana, that is what research is going to allow us to do. We believe that the functions that we performed for the nation over the last 65 years are such that we need to move on to another level, largely because there are other institutions that are capable of filling whichever gaps we leave behind.”
Collegiate system
In pursuit of that research agenda, he said, the university was being restructured by breaking it into four different colleges to make it much more effective and efficient.The four colleges are the current College of Health Sciences, which is being restructured, the College of Basic Applied Sciences (an aggregation of the existing Faculty of Science, College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences and Faculty of Engineering Sciences), the College of Humanities (an aggregation of the current Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Law and the Business School) and the new College of Education, designed to bring improved teaching methods and new technology into the way people are prepared for a teaching career at the basic, secondary and tertiary levels.
“The four colleges should make it easier to take decisions on academic programmes, reach students and make students reach a larger breadth of programmes. So in decentralising, we wish to make it easier for our researchers to do research, we wish to make it easier for our lecturers to teach and we wish to make it easier for our students to have access to more programmes of academic nature”.
Prof. Aryeetey added that apart from having the colleges in place, the university believed that its research should have a clearer focus so instead of doing everything, “we should focus on distinct areas that would add to the university stature.”
“We have decided to focus our research on four areas; malaria, food production and food processing, climate change adaptation and establishment of a centre of excellence for policy monitoring and evaluation.”
He said as Ghana introduced new initiatives in social protection and other areas, it was important that a lot of studies were done into the impact of those polices on the intended beneficiaries.
As part of the process of becoming a research university, Prof. Aryeetey indicated that the university was restructuring its PhD programmes by moving from a less formalised way of conducting PhD research to a much more structured way found in many universities
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