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 Some of the demonstrators
Some of the demonstrators

Apewosika youth stage protest to call on UCC to fulfil social responsibilities

A youth group calling itself the “Concerned Youth of Apewosika” at Apewosika, a community near the University of Cape Coast (UCC), yesterday staged a demonstration to protest the inability of the university to fulfil its social responsibilities to the community.

Clad in red armbands and headgears, and beating drums, the demonstrators blocked the entrance to the university for sometime, accusing the authorities of reneging on their promises.

Youth demands

They said the university had failed to address six major problems confronting the community.

Responding to the concerns of the community,  the acting Director of Public Affairs of the university, Major Kofi Baah-Bentum (retd), said the youth had not been fair to the university in their claims.

He explained that the university, which was surrounded by eight communities, was not in a position to meet all their demands, noting that road construction, for example, was capital intensive and a sole responsibility of the government.

However, the demonstrators maintained that even in the area of education, the university had failed to give scholarships to the residents of the community as it promised, adding that people in the community were not considered for protocol admissions to the university.

They also claimed that there had been increasing security threats to the community as a result of the large number of students and workers who rented accommodation facilities in the area.

The youth also complained about the bad roads in the community, which compelled taxi drivers to charge exorbitant transport fares.

They also alleged that students of the university had been impregnating the girls in the community and failing in their responsibility towards them and their newborn babies.

Response

Major Baah-Bentum (retd) said the presence of the university had provided many opportunities for the community and urged them to take advantage of such opportunities.

He said the claims by the youth could not be the true representation of the facts, adding the university had been very supportive of the needs of the community.

“Recently, we constructed toilet facilities for some communities, increased security patrols and also acquired lands to build police posts in the communities”, he stressed.

On the allegation that the students had been impregnating girls in the community, Major Baah-Bentum said the university could not be held responsible for two consenting “lovers who engage themselves in love affairs”.  

 

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