Legon can charge road tolls: Parliament gives support

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads, Transport and Education say they are in agreement with the University of Ghana (UG) on the decision to charge the road tolls after a meeting with the Vice Chancellor.

According to Vice-Chairman of the Transport Committee, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, the University acted within the law in its imposition of tolls for the use of its roads.

He said the University of Ghana draws its mandate from the University of Ghana Act, 2010, (Act 806).

”… at the end of the day there was a consensus that they [University of Ghana] acted within the law that was passed by Parliament; the issue at stake was whether they acted within the ACT 2010 (806) and for us as a committee, they acted within that particular mandate,” he told Citi News on Friday.

Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News Mr. Tetteh Chaie said the committee after meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, and some members of the University Council made some recommendations, including reviewing the University of Ghana Act to amend article 23.

” Some of the recommendations that we made, that in view of that particular article; it will be proper if an amendment is made to especially article 23 to restrict the University from going into such commercial transaction and then either government absorbs the cost of the project so that it wouldn’t be charged on the public…”

Meanwhile the president of UG’s Students Representativ Council (SRC), Eric Edem Agbana expressed disappointment in parliament for failing to involve or hear the students’ side of the story.

”As an SRC we are ver disappointed because we presented a petition to parliament and we think that the proper thing for the committee to have done was that right after listening to management of the University it was proper for us as a student body that triggered the whole action to be invited as well.”

He said the student body will however, react appropriately after seeing the final report of the parliamentary committee.

By: Evans Effah

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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