The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has appealed to the government to grant extra financial clearance to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to recruit more academic and administrative staff.

A recent five-year cyclical review of the university by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) brought to fore the unfavourable lecturer-student ratio in the university.

The Asantehene said the current situation had placed a strain on the university’s dedicated lecturers, threatening the quality of teaching and learning provided to thousands of students by KNUST.

Congregation

Otumfuo Osei Tutu, who is the Chancellor of the university, made the call last Saturday, November 29, 2025, while addressing the 59th Congregation of KNUST during which 17,132 students, made up of 14,764 undergraduates and 2,338 postgraduate students, graduated.

As part of the ceremony, some distinguished personalities were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees, others with distinguished fellow awards and special awards to some corporate institutions and individuals.

The Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, was the guest of honour.

“I call on the government to treat this matter with urgency and as a moral obligation, for it is not merely a question of numbers but of the very future of our youth and the nation,” he pointed out.

Empowerment

Otumfuo stated that the nation’s universities must be empowered to provide not only instruction, but also the close guidance of mentorship that moulded leaders, innovators and custodians of Ghana’s destiny, saying “only then can we sustain the quality of education that prepares our graduates to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.”

“Unemployment among the youth is a national concern, and I, therefore, call on President John Dramani Mahama to take keen interest in this critical issue and take the necessary efforts to address it,” he said.

Encroachment

He used the occasion to issue a solemn and unequivocal warning against any encroachment on KNUST lands, saying “however, I have received reports indicating that some recalcitrant people continue to test our resolve”.

“Let me, therefore, say again with absolute clarity and without equivocation that any encroachment upon KNUST land will not be tolerated,” he stressed, adding that the lands were sacred legacies entrusted to them by their forebears and reserved for the education of unborn generations.

“Any attempt to prey on the lands is an attack on that sacred trust, and will be met with decisive action. I hereby command all who have such intentions to desist and keep away from these sacred KNUST lands,” the Asantehene emphasised.

KNUST teaching hospital

Otumfuo Osei Tutu expressed excitement about recent government commitment towards completing the 18-year-old KNUST Teaching Hospital with the release of GH¢46 million for the work and an additional $38 million to equip the facility.

Similarly, he mentioned the government’s commitment to construct lecture theatres at a cost of $10 million, and said “I trust that this is not a mere promise and I know that the government will deliver”.

Otumfuo told the students that as they stepped into the wider world, they should let innovation guide them, ideas and integrity should anchor their actions and compassion shape their leadership.

Research fund

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, said in line with the university’s commitment to impactful research that addressed national and global challenges, the university awarded over GH¢1.5 million to 29 senior members from the KNUST research fund to undertake various research.

That, she said, brought the total of research grants awarded to staff since the establishment of the fund in 2016 to GH¢7 million.

Similarly, some faculty members during the period worked hard to get external grants totalling $8.9 million.

Prof. Mrs Dickson also congratulated some faculty members of the university who were recently appointed as ambassadors and council chairmen of sister universities, among other appointments.

Further, the Vice-Chancellor advised the students not to underestimate the power of starting small, even if the prospects of the job interview looked high, saying “grow and nurture your resilience and always remember that giving up can never be an option.”