If there is anything that saddens me about this whole election brouhaha [and] the supposed Dean’s interference, it is the fact that one strong bragging rights of a FULLY AUTOMATED FOOL PROOF BIOMETRIC VOTING ATTESTED TO BY CANDIDATES OWN AGENTS HAS BEEN LOST.
The challenge I threw as I phoned in when the provisional results were declared [on Focus Fm] was that government should take a listen that we have enough brains at KNUST to undertake a nationwide biometric verification followed by electronic voting that can be counted in real time.
My common phrase is also lost…WE ARE THE BEST UNIVERSITY IN THE NATION. THIS IS KNUST. WE KNOW WHO WE ARE. THIS IS HALLOWED GROUNDS.
A second point is the sleepless nights some young people in UITS spent under the direction of their Director has been poopooed. For three nights in a row, they sweated with me in my office with the Electoral Commissioner (EC) and his team to operationalise the process do the right thing.
As for the Dean’s supposed interference FOR WHICH HE MUST DIE…well the last time I checked, he intervened to rescue some equipment at 8:30pm, 30 minutes after the official closure, because intelligent reports told me that the 100 laptops we brought from Accra at a great cost needed to be taken way to prevent losses…That some strong boys had planned to take away these laptops at an average cost of GH¢3,000 each and I needed to save the system some money.
If strong boys gave me respect to allow me to take the laptops away…DEATH TO THE DEAN NOW IS A BIT OVER DONE…History should tell you…I am your greatest friend, critic, and defender for students rights.
Those student leaders who work with me know that I am still the no nonsense old fashioned Presbyterian who tries to walk the talk and talk the walk. I WILL NOT LET MY PRECIOUS STUDENTS GO THROUGH ANYTHING I WILL NOT GO THROUGH MYSELF.
Pipe down, relax, sort out your differences, and learn for your examinations. I could also have taken to the airwaves but to what point KNUST will be the loser.
I am sure Aaron Duke Sasu has learnt in his young life that he may be smarter than myself but what he is yet to gain is the experience that only age brings. I saw his being labeled as “KNUST Administration man” long before his young mind could appreciate; giving him at this point the benefit of the doubt. His opportunistic usage of the joint service platform twice when the Vice Chancellor was there with perhaps a hidden political agenda is now obvious to him NOW if it was not then.
NOW HAVE THE UNPLEASANT DUTY TO PICK UP THE PIECES…. the jury is still out whether he got any advantage…I am glad I told his shenanigan minders once I got to know of his candidature that IF I HAD POWER I WOULD HAVE DISQUALIFIED HIM (DUKE).
I made my feelings known to him. I told him in the face a day before the election of my total unhappiness of what he did. He said he did not see my point and that he disagreed with me. EXPERIENCE rather than SMUG SMARTNESS has won the day… I AM TEMPTED TO TELL HIM I TOLD YOU SO. It is up to him to redeem that image.
To think that the DEAN stole the election for someone he did want to contest, let alone win, defies logic. That somehow I was privy to the results in the strong room which I was not and that as soon as I saw him win by 200 votes, I closed the election…lame thinking.
For me, It does not matter the colour of the cat (politically affiliated or neutral), so long as he can catch mice (i.e. represent the interest of students in the best way to maximize results), it is good enough for me.
I have long stood accused of belonging to one party or the other…depending on which side is facing the rod. Even in the aftermath of this contest, I am accused of wanting to help NDC win 10 seats in Ashanti (preposterous) on one hand and on the other… and NPP guys are winning… and that I met Sammy Awuku…(laughable)…those who know me well know I have always sought to balance the table…when the VC met the strong boys in Conti (Unity Hall), I insisted he be invited to Kat (University Hall) to balance the table.
When Nana Addo visited campus in the last election, I told the then TEIN President, Scooby, to get President Mahama here. I AGREE WITH MY BOSS THAT WHEN YOU ENTER KNUST YOU ARE A STUDENT NOTHING ELSE.
Politics has had very little influence on how university structures operate. The idea that the best way for students to be heard when fighting the institution that gives them their degrees is ACTIVISM and agitation instead of DIPLOMATIC DIALOGUE is a fallacy. The idea that students can be independent of the University that awards them a degree is AN ILLUSION.
Interdependence is key. Diplomats win the war. Activists win pyrrhic battles. Ask Kwaku Oppong, Yaw Oduro, Philemon Laar, Eben Bonsra, and Caleb Fuga and they will tell you JAW JAW is the best not WAR WAR.
The silver lining in this saga is seeing the strongmen of Kat and Conti unite on a cause for a proper peace…long lasting peace at last…instead of the artificial peace I sought to create early in my tenure at the peace junction. I hope strong boys will remember what brought them together and never go back to the old vomit of hostility. I miss Dumega, Festival, Jo Napen, King David, Major Pee, and Freeman for their intellectual prowess.
Strong boys do not create a jungle, assault and intimidate their own elected leaders. Criminality will not be allowed to prevail. It is ancient and Neolithic in the 21st century. I expect these strong boys who know me as well as I know them take a path of integrity and above reproach stance instead strong hand mafioso tactics.
Calm down my dear students, your papa on location has no interest who leads you. Settle down and go through your exams. Afisem (house matters) are not played in the media. Do not allow egos and name calling get in the way. Sort yourselves out quietly. Do not wash your dirty linen in public. You do not have the time or the money to go through litigation and counter litigation.
My doors are always open. Odikro, Odiyifooo, and their strong men know that. I appreciate the respect and relevance I am given in the two halls (Unity Hall and University Hall) otherwise why am I the Dean of Students?
I am still the students’ thumb to untie the knots…the bridge that must be crossed on both sides. Students cannot do cherry picking and choose what is palatable and ignore bitter medication that heals all the same.
At 57, noisy and boisterous as I am, I do not like my name in the media. I cannot afford to soil my reputation and recover. INTELLECTUAL MISCHIEF IS NEVER MY PORTION. I AM NOT COMPLICATED WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET.
Long live KNUST. This is HALLOWED GROUNDS.
