The University of Ghana as an academic community encourages the raging intellectual debate surrounding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on its campus, the school’s Head of Public Affairs, Stella Amoah, has said.
Some academics at the University of Ghana have fiercely contested the mounting of Gandhi’s statue at the Sam Aboah quadrangle on grounds that the Indian leader was racist.
A former Director of the Institute of African Studies, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, has petitioned the university authorities to pull down the statue.
However, speaking to Class News about the concerns raised by certain intellectuals regarding the inappropriateness of the statue, Ms Amoah said the university was an academic community and, therefore, allowed scholarly debate.
“… It’s a good thing to have such intellectual debate and it is also a good thing if somebody disagrees with anything and they will want to submit a petition,” she told Naa Dedei Tettey on 12Live on Class91.3FM on Tuesday September 13.
Giving a brief background to how the statue was erected, Mrs Amoah said it was a gift from Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee, who visited the university in June this year.
“We accepted to host him to deliver a lecture at the university. Prior to his coming, the High Commissioner of India asked that the president would like to make a donation of Gandhi’s statue to the university and that it was customary for the visiting president to give a gift on such visits. The university accepted the gift and the statue was unveiled by the President of India during his state visit in June this year,” Mrs Amoah recounted.
Touching on whether the statue would be pulled down as being demanded by the petitioners, Mrs Amoah said she was unaware of any petition submitted to the university authorities to that effect.
According to her, “If such a petition gets to the University Council, it will review the petition in the light of the argument put forward. It could also very well use the relevant statutory boards and committees in the university to go through a review process and then make a decision.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
