Political analyst and broadcast journalist Paul Adom-Otchere has voiced concerns over the noticeable decline in student activism across Ghana’s universities, attributing the trend to the increasing fragmentation of student groups.
Speaking on Campus Exclusive on June 13, 2025, Adom-Otchere lamented the shift from unified student movements to smaller, often tribal or interest-based factions that he believes have eroded the collective strength once held by student bodies.
He blamed partisan politics for altering the structure and identity of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), arguing that these changes have weakened the body’s influence.
“NUGS leadership used to be stationed in one university at a time,” he recalled. “Then some clever politicians many of whom had been NUGS leaders themselves decided to change the arrangement. They said, ‘Let’s now have a NUGS electoral college, with congress happening at one place,’ and the first was at Winneba, where delegates drawn from the various SRCs came to vote. That completely weakened NUGS.”
According to him, the change stripped NUGS of its sense of place and spirit.
“NUGS doesn’t have a home anymore. Its ‘home’ is just a table and chair in the administrative office. It has lost the soul and spirit of the organisation, where it was hosted in a particular university and that university felt responsible for flying the NUGS flag.”
He warned that this loss of identity has distanced students from pressing national conversations, reducing their involvement in shaping the country’s democratic landscape.
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Story by: Wilhemina Dushie | univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by: Cindy Selasi Humade
