His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana paid a working visit to the Main Campus of University of Health and Allied Sciences, Sokode-Lokoe near Ho. The visit which is his first as the President of Ghana was part of his three day working visit to the Volta Region.
In a brief welcome address, His Lordship Justice Victor Jones Mawulom Dotse, the Chairman of UHAS Governing Council, expressed the gratitude of the University community to the President for making time out of his busy schedule to avail himself to personally inspect developments within the University.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor John Owusu Gyapong, did a presentation on the achievements, challenges, vision and mission of UHAS. Predominant among the challenges he enumerated were poor road network on campus, inadequate accommodation facilities for both staff and students, delayed payment of compensation to UHAS landowners and activities on the 702-acre land which have negative effects on academic work .
Professor Gyapong also stated that only one of the eight schools of UHAS has been constructed and all its three institutes are yet to be built. He thus pleaded that the President should add the mantra: “One Year, One School” to his mantras thereby helping the University to build one academic unit each year for the next ten years. He opined that this will enormously help address UHAS’s huge infrastructure deficit. He added that if this proposal is adopted UHAS will be well positioned to absolve the much anticipated products of the FREE SHS programme.
The Vice Chancellor reiterated his advocacy for an urgent need for Government to provide Special Funding for the newly established public universities in Ghana. He described the current situation where the newly established universities receive the same amount of governmental support just as the already established universities as ‘unfair’.
His Excellency, President Akufo-Addo, in his address indicated his Government’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 3 and he believes UHAS as an institution that is focused on training only health professionals is a strategic partner in this direction. He said that his Government therefore “attach high importance to UHAS because it supplies the most important human resource for the health sector”.
President Akufo-Addo added that UHAS is an institution in the position to fill the huge human resource deficit plaguing the country’s health institutions. He said it is for this reason that his Government is ready to give the needed support to ensure that UHAS expands its facilities to admit more students.
On the issue of the payment of compensation to the landowners, the President pointed out that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources had completed the final financial package for the landowners which is currently at the Ministry of Finance.
The President hinted that the remaining work on the conversion of the Volta Regional Hospital to a teaching hospital for the use of UHAS shall soon be completed.
On the building of other schools and other infrastructure, the President indicated that the Chinese Government has agreed to finance the Phase Two of the UHAS Project upon the Vice President’s visit to China last year. He said he was aware of the Government’s counterpart funding of the project and assured the gathering of his Government’s readiness to provide it in time for the Chinese contractors to start work in January, 2019.
Further in his address, His Excellency President Akufo-Addo said although there are countless needs from every sector, he was optimistic that his Government’s readiness to be discipline and prudent in the management of Ghana’s economy will provide the needed resources to ensure that the developmental needs of UHAS and that of the country as a whole are addressed in due course.
Prior to the durbar with staff, students and other members at the newly dedicated Cedi Auditorium at UHAS main campus, President Akufo-Addo accompanied by some Government and party officials inspected ongoing projects on the campus.