Maradona Adjei Yeboah, one of the aspirants who was disqualified by the University of Ghana's Students’ Representative Council (SRC) to contest the student body's election, has issued an official response.

In a social media post, Maradona known in music circles as Guru indicates that he has petitioned the electoral commission of the University of Ghana's Students’ Representative Council (SRC). 

“On Monday, 19th August, 2024, we formally filed a petition against the SRC Electoral Commission’s decision to disqualify Maradona Adjei Yeboah (Guru NKZ) due to his non-resident status. This petition has been lodged with the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Dean of Students Affairs of our dear university,” he writes.

The statement continues that his legal team has also taken the matter up.

“Additionally, our legal team has submitted an interim injunction to the Judicial Board, requesting a temporary halt to the electoral process until a proper hearing and ruling can be made,” he adds. 

Guru’s disqualification 

According to a communique issued earlier by the SRC, Guru does not satisfy the conditions that qualify him to contest the position.

In a vetting report issued on August 16, 2024, the SRC's Vetting Committee indicated that during their vetting on August 11, 2024, they assessed three treasurer aspirants, three general secretary aspirants and five presidential and vice presidential aspirants. Out of these, some failed to meet the criteria for the election.

“Upon a careful examination of the documents submitted, it was discovered that two candidates from the presidential and vice presidential aspirants, indicated their non-residential status, which they further confirmed during vetting the process," the report says.

The report states that Maradona Adjei Yeboah (Guru) and Lawrence Edinam Egleh are non-residential students, for which reason they are not permitted to contest the election.

According to the UG SRC Constitution, "A student shall not be qualified to any executive office unless: he is qualified to contest under his hall's constitution, except that a provision requiring a student to be in at least his third year in this University shall not disqualify such a person from contesting for any office under this article."

It also states that a person who does not reside in any of the halls of the university shall not qualify to occupy a leadership position.

"The committee after a critical assessment of the qualification criteria, noticed that Maradona Adjei Yeboah and Lawrence Edinam Egleh do not meet the criteria stated in Article 30 (1) (a) of the UG-SRC Constitution and therefore do not qualify or are not eligible to contest for an Executive Officer position of the University of Ghana Students' Representative Council (UGSRC).

Why Guru wants to be UG SRC President 

In May 2024, Guru told Joy FM on Showbiz A-Z that he was goaded by some pressing needs of the students to contest as SRC President.

The ‘Lapaz Toyota’ hit maker said he intends to fix accommodation problems in the school and settle some inter-hall rifts.

According to Guru, his main focus was to make sure the name and brand of the premier university is protected.

He said as someone who is into real estate, he intended to devise ways of making students get a comfortable place to live and have a sound mind to study.