The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, has appealed to government to pay off its debt to some six banks over the construction of four residential halls on its campus.

The University of Ghana, in 2008, contracted a syndicated ¢43 million loan facility from six banks, including Cal Bank.

The other banks are the Agricultural Development Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, International Commercial Bank, and Societé Generale Bank, Ghana.

As of February 2019, the loan had grown to ¢528 million, with the constructed residential facilities risk becoming privatised.

Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, delivering an address during her induction ceremony on Tuesday as the Vice-Chancellor of the University, petitioned President Akufo-Addo for support.

She described the loan situation as a yoke hindering the university’s growth and efforts to be truly world-class.

“I am making a special appeal to you to support us clear our unfortunate UGEL debt; so we get a clean slate to start on,” she requested.

On the University’s part, Prof. Amfo said that they would “work hard to increase our alternative income streams”

“We will increase our research, consultancy, and external funding income; increase special programmes across the Colleges, streamline our non-traditional income sources (rental of facilities, agricultural products and produce); operationalise and grow UG and College endowment funds, and continue to resource our newly established Office of Institutional Advancement to be a major fund-raising unit of the University. In addition, current efforts to minimize waste through stringent financial controls will be sustained,” she promised.

Meanwhile, Prof. Amfo has mentioned, as an objective, that her leadership will “strengthen traditional revenue streams and expand alternative income sources” for the university.

This, she believes, will help the University of Ghana “meet our debt obligations as well as our current institutional needs, and ensure the robustness of mechanisms for the prudent, prudent management of resources to guarantee value for money, and safeguard sound decision making in all transactions to ensure success and avoid failures and debts.

Prof. Appiah Amfo is the first female to rise to the office of Vice-Chancellor in the University’s 73-year-old history.

Before her appointment, she was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academic and Students Affairs.