Student Activist and Former Presidential Candidate in the 2022 University of Ghana student representative council elections, Noah Wumborbi has bemoaned the gradual fall in activism among the student representative council in the University of Ghana.
His comments follow concerns raised by the student community on the absence of the SRC in the recent “Yabre Mo” Demonstration.
The “Yabre Mo” demonstration was a protest organised by concerned students from the University of Ghana on 3rd February, 2023 to protest against some happenings in the University.
The protestors cited increment of fees, brutalizing of students by security officials, accommodation crisis, among others.
However , Speaking on Campus Exclusive, Noah Wumborbi said that , it’s sad to see the SRC distance itself from some these activism .
He alleged that the SRC often sides with the university management when matters involving students’ welfare arises.
Mr. Wumborbi said the student leaders should be allowed to operate independently.
“What I’ve seen is that, the SRC, if not on all occasions, tends to side with management rather than to take the side of and fight [for students]. And so that was what was displayed on that day. This whole fight has been dragged for some time now. And for the SRC to wait for other students to raise concerns before they step in was somethinng that I didn’t think was in the right direction. The SRC should be able to make independent decisions to say that this is not right, that is not right and so we are coming in to say this, or we are petitioning management to do this and do that. But we’ve not seen that for quite some years now, and that is the case now.”
Noah Wumborbi advised that students to elect leaders who have the interest of students at heart instead of their own parochial interests. Mr. Wumborbi explained that by doing so, concerns of students may be addressed more effectively by such a leadership.
“I’ve spoken extensively about partisan involvement in student affairs and all these small [issues]. They are basically factors that can weaken us. So, we don’t [elect] leaders who have students’ interest at heart but rather leaders who are more interested in representing their [own interests] rather than representing the interests of the people who elected them. If we are able to correct that anomaly, then we are sure that we would be able to get leaders who truly would not sit and watch things happen but would take a stand that will benefit students.”
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Story by ; Deborah Yakohene | univers.ug.edu.gh
