Restoring original names of public universities will include seat of gov’t – Dr. Apaak

The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak has stated that the restoring of the original names Public Universities renamed by President Akufo-Addo should include the seat of government.

This follows former President John Mahama stating his commitment to overturning the recent renaming of public universities in the country by President Akufo-Addo.

The former President has stated that he will carry out such measures if he succeeds in securing re-election in the upcoming 2024 general election.

This pledge from the National Democratic Congress flag bearer follows President Akufo-Addo’s decision to rename several public universities in honor of past heroes associated with the New Patriotic Party.

A notable instance is the renaming of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Wa campus, after SD Dombo (Simon Diedong Dombo), a political figure from the United Party tradition.

The institution is now known as Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS) in the Upper West Region and C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) in the Upper East Region.

Commenting on the development, the Builsa South lawmaker stated he was full of joy with the announcement by the former President to restore names of the university.

“Seated behind him [JM] during his interaction with stakeholders in the Zuarungu Constituency, I leapt with joy when he announced that he would restore the original names of the universities renamed by Nana Addo.

“I have no doubt that operation restoration will include the seat of government. Flagstaff House it was, and so would it be again. Our history will definitely be restored,” Dr. Apaak stated in a tweet.

Addressing students at Zuarungu in the Upper East Region as part of his Building Ghana tour of the Upper East region, Mr. Mahama stated naming hostels and libraries will be accepted but not a whole university should be renamed.

“We are known as nation builders because of the number of schools we have built. Every public university was initiated and built by us. All the NPP knows how to do is name universities that people have built. After NDC builds a university, then they will give it the name of one of their heroes or people.

“We are going to rename the universities. Ghana has many heroes, and not only the heroes of the NPP tradition. We can name an administration block, we can name a hostel, and we can name a library after somebody.  But the university must reflect its core mandate,” Mr. Mahama stated.

He continued: “So we will restore the original names, and the names that they have given them will be given to significant infrastructure in the universities. And we will add other people and name the infrastructure in the universities after them. But if the university is the University for Development Studies, that is its core mandate. It will be called the University for Development Studies.”

Source: Today.com.gh