Stranded UG students turn Catholic Church washroom into sleeping place

Some continuing students of the University of Ghana (UG), who have been left stranded by the university’s new residential policy, have turned the washroom of a Catholic Church into their sleeping place.

A student who spoke to Citi News’ Kwaku Aduamah Ansah said they have been left with no choice but to sleep in the corridors of other halls and at other times in the washroom of a Catholic Church on campus.

“We slept in the corridors of Legon Hall on Monday, but on Tuesday, we didn’t get any place to sleep, so we went through the bush and went to the Catholic Church and went to their washroom to sleep. That is where we slept,” a student said.

On Monday, January 16, 2023, some students of Commonwealth hall were turned away by security personnel of the school from accessing their hall.

The new directive to reassign continuing students of Commonwealth and Mensah Sarbah halls to other halls comes on the back of numerous clashes recorded between the respective halls in times past.

Some of the stranded students called on the management of UG to listen to their plea, as the other arranged accommodation is way too high for them to afford.

A level 300 student, Fred Oppong said, “I don’t have any relatives in Accra, so if I’m not being permitted to enter the hall, the best I can do is to loiter around till daybreak. I assumed the management will go by the court’s injunction, but the situation is different looking at the situation”.

Background

Per the new residential policy, continuing students are supposed to occupy other halls apart from the Commonwealth and Mensah Sarbah halls to make way for level 100 and graduate students.

In the case of Mensah Sarbah hall, only the male continuing students will exit.

Some students of the Commonwealth hall secured an interlocutory injunction on January 6, 2023, restraining the management of UG from implementing the residential policy decision but some of the students accused the management of the university of turning a blind eye to the court order.