Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said the government has no intention to stifle academic freedom with the Public Universities Bill.

According to him, an instruction was given on the floor of Parliament to ensure that all concerns of the various stakeholders are captured in the Bill before its passage.

His comment comes on the back of assertions made by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) that the Bill, in its current state will compromise academic freedom in tertiary institutions.

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Prof Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua noted that the government and other stakeholders are opposed to ideas and principles that the university should be given the functional necessity of academic freedom.

“They think that there should be that control and if that is introduced, evidence from other countries will indicate that we are going down the drain.”

He stated: “I am not sure the committee understands the seriousness that this Bill if turned into Law, would have”.

But Mr Oppong Nkrumah, in his submission said “Subsequent to yesterday’s meeting, a decision was made to broaden the consultation not just to make it a UTAG – Legon matter but to broaden the engagement.

“It is only unfortunate that any time you engage, it is interpreted as trying to do something on the other side”.

He stated that a copy of the draft was made available to UTAG and other stakeholders to assess it and “tell us whether or not it captures that which you want to be captured and if you want some further amendments, let us have it.”

He added, “Until then considerations on the floor, admittedly where you are not part of it is suspended.”

Mr Nkrumah said so far, everyone has the opportunity to examine and give feedback which will determine the next consultation.

The Executive Director of the Institute of Educations Studies (IFEST), Peter Anti, on the same show, noted that government is in a hast to pass the Bill.

He said the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) has been given a timeline (Tuesday, December 22) to submit their views on the Bill.

But Mr Oppong Nkrumah said: “we don’t have a timeline of Tuesday for them to submit their concerns.” 

He explained: “the Tuesday is a timeline that they selected to tell us when they will bring their views so the Tuesday is not a timeline selected for them to bring their views.”

According to him, recommendations made by the various groups of TUTAG has been factored in the current Bill.

“What they should do is to go back to those groups, consult them, tell them that this is what we submitted and this is how it’s been addressed so they need some time to do all these work and that.”

The information minister wants the general public to discredit notions that the Bill has been passed saying “such suspicion is not founded”. 

There were red flags indicating that the Government is in hast to pass the Bill but Mr Oppong Nkrumah said there is no such plan by the Government.

He, however, said should all concerns be captured before the 7th Parliament closes, the Government may go ahead to pass the Bill, other than that, the 8th Parliament may have to look at it all over again.

“The Vice President gave UTAG his assurance that we are not in a hurry to pass a bill that creates more problems than it solves.”

The Bill which was initially suspended in October due to public outrage was brought before Parliament again on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.

However, Parliament after consultation with the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia Wednesday, suspended the process of the Bill.