Ghana Government Warns Students

President Kwame Nkrumah has not only given his name to Ghana's new university on the outskirts of Accra, he has also assumed the office of Chancellor. The student body has expressed objections to having the Head of State "take over" their university, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The students' "disrespectful attitude" brought severe rebuke from their elders in the government and on the university council.

To deal with the problem of youth insubordination, a special meeting of the Nkrumahist Convention People's Party (Cpp) was held on November 30, 1961, at the university. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Tawiah Adamafio, was the first of the day's series of speakers to reprimand the restless student body. In his phrase the students have "forfeited all right to respect" from himself and the other administration officials. Speaking bluntly, Adamafio told the students that while the government would not interfere with academic freedom, nevertheless, the authorities were prepared to take "strong political action" against those who indulge in anti-Government or anti-Party policies.

Other speakers included the Chairman of the University Council, Kweku Boateng, who reminded the students of their obligations to their leader, the hero of Ghanaian independence, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. To make the point even more strongly, Education Minister Dowuona-Hammond said that his ministry would take "drastic measures" against any educational institution found cultivating "dangerous attitudes of indifference. hostility, and disrespect to all those in authority."