A lecturer at the University of Ghana's Political Science Department, Prof Ransford Gyampo, has stated that former President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills cherished academic freedom during his administration.

Speaking to JoyNews on Friday, July 19, at the Atta Mills 12th anniversary memorial lecture, Prof Gyampo stated that the late President valued academic freedom, unlike those who do not understand how academia operates.

“He cherished academic freedom. He was an academic. People who are not academics do not even understand how academia operates.

"I am saying that Prof. Mills did not do anything to undermine academic freedom.”

Professor Gyampo further noted that the late Mills never involved himself in the management of universities by introducing legislation to undermine the powers of academia or influence the appointment of vice-chancellors, unlike the current Akufo-Addo government.

“But under this particular regime, there was an effort to introduce a public university bill, which was simply an attempt to undermine academic freedom because somebody wanted to sack a vice-chancellor.

"Some of us stood up to that person and said no, that cannot happen. They felt academia was too powerful, so they drafted legislation to curtail its power. But Prof. Mills was not interested in that.

"He did not support these moves and was never interested in who became a vice-chancellor of a public university.”