We’re not exploiting students; we’re engaging them and will soon reach an agreement – UGEL CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the University of Ghana Enterprise Limited (UGEL), Yawo Agbesi, has assured students that the company is not seeking to exploit them through its proposed increase in hostel fees, saying management remains committed to reaching an agreement with student leaders. He said UGEL was reviewing the concerns raised by students over the proposed 26 per cent increase in residential facility user fees and would continue discussions with the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) and the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) before announcing the final charges.

His comments come after aggrieved students of the University of Ghana embarked on a three-day protest against the proposed increase, demanding an immediate reversal of the increment and the abolition of the UGEL-managed hostel system. Read also: University of Ghana students protest 26% hostel fee increase, demand UGEL system scrapping Speaking to the media in response to the demonstration, the UGEL CEO rejected the claims, insisting that the company had no intention of taking advantage of students.

When asked whether UGEL was exploiting students through the proposed charges, he said: “No, we are not in any way trying to exploit the students.” “This is not the forum for us to go into the kind of challenges that we face as an institution, UGL. So we will discuss with the students. We will continue to engage them as our constituents,” he added. He said that UGEL recognised the importance of students to its operations and would not disregard their concerns.

“We have a lot of respect for the students. We treat them as our constituents. So without them, definitely there will be no business; there will be no UGEL. So definitely we will continue to engage them,” he said. The CEO also responded to concerns over the Rent Control Department’s reported directive asking UGEL to refund some accommodation charges to affected students by November 17.

He referred to a communiqué issued by the University of Ghana the previous day, which indicated that consultations with student leadership were still ongoing. According to him, the university’s position was that any refunds found to be necessary after the consultation process would be credited directly to the accounts of the affected students. “We sent a communiqué from the university yesterday and, if you had minded to read it, you would have realised that the Director of Public Relations indicated that we are still in consultation with the student leadership,” he said.

“At the end of the period, if any refunds would have to be made, they will be credited to the accounts of the students. So that is our final position on this matter,” he added. Mr Agbesi said the concerns raised by students were important to the company and would be given the necessary attention. “On behalf of UGEL, we want to appreciate the concerns raised by the students.

We consider them as our constituents and a very, very important aspect of our business,” he said. He disclosed that management had continued engaging student leadership over the proposed fees and was prepared to return to the negotiating table to reach an agreement acceptable to all parties. “In fact, as we speak, we have continued engaging the Graduate Students Association of Ghana and the SRC on these rates that we proposed initially and had discussions with them,” he said.

“We will still go back to the drawing board and have further discussions with them, and then we will come to an amicable solution and revert with our finalised fees,” he added.