The Office of the Dean of Students has announced the cancellation of the much anticipated James Topp Nelson Yankah (TF Hostel) Reunion Rave.
A statement signed on Friday 7th June, by the Dean, Prof. Rosina Kyeremanten, attributed the cancellation to the failure of the Junior Common Room (JCR) executives to include the Reunion Rave to the activities of the ‘Two Days Alumni Engagement’ that were approved.
The Rave was to feature one of Ghana’s biggest dancehall artistes, Shatta Wale.
“It has come to the notice of the Dean of Students Affairs that contrary to the following the direction for the ‘Two Day Alumni Engagement’ event, slated for 7-8th June, 2024, the Executives of James Topp Nelson Yankah Hall have gone ahead o organize a program which was not part of the list of programs approved by the Office. Therefore, the Reunion Rave or Artiste Night has been cancelled with immediate effect,” the statement read.
Following the cancellation however have been series of unfounded allegations suggesting that the featured artiste’s most prominent rival, Stonebwoy is the mastermind behind the cancellation.
Facts of the issues, not emotions
The University of Ghana is an independent institution that cannot be influenced by any entity according to the University of Ghana Act, passed in 2010, granting the University its autonomy and independence.
In August 2022, the University of Ghana Management through the Office of the Dean of Students Affairs banned all forms of public gatherings due to the clash between the Commonwealth Hall and Mensah Sarbah Hall, where some properties were damaged, and injuries recorded.
The University through the Registrar on January 2, 2023 reminded the University community of the ban in place ahead of the 2022/2023 academic year.
All forms of public gatherings in the University, since then, needs the approval from the Office of the Dean including the recent successfully held Pent Hall Week celebration.
Shatta Wale’s TF ‘Artiste Night’ being cancelled has nothing to do with Stonebwoy, who was the handle artist for a similar event at the Dr. Hilla Limann Hall on the same day, June 8, 2024.
Shatta Wale has alleged on his livestream on social media that Stonebwoy is responsible for the unfortunate incident.
Speaking to UniversNews, the Dean clarified that the activities in which her office approved did not include any ‘Reunion Rave’, hence the cancellation.
“There is still a ban on public gatherings. All public events must be approved and the outline we approved did not include the Reunion Rave/Artiste Night. It cannot happen at our [Management’s] blind side, but other programs will go on.”
The fact? The event organizers caused the cancellation of the Reunion Rave portion of the Alumni Engagement program; they failed to include the event in the activities listed for the dean’s approval, forcing the office to cancel it for the lack of communication.
Shatta Wale’s statement of Stonebwoy being the mastermind in the cancellation is simply a fallacy; it is simply a mere coincidence that the two rivalling artistes were supposed to perform on the same day in the same environment.
