The Ashanti Region Coordinating Council has deployed security personnel to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to quell a possible clash between rival halls.
According to a statement dated Wednesday, September 15, 2021, the Council said intelligence gathered by the security services reveal that groups of unruly students at the Unity Hall and University Hall are planning to cause chaos on campus on the eve of vacation, September 17, 2021.
Apart from the deployment of security personnel to the campus, the Council has also directed students to vacate the school premises latest by Saturday, September 18 – that is immediately after their exams.
“It is instructive to remind the student population that the declaration of the University Campus as a Security Zone in November 2018, is still in force and therefore, it is an offence to demonstrate within the security zone,†the statement explained.
The statement also added that if students decide to misbehave and engage in acts of indiscipline and criminality, they will be handled in accordance with the law.
“Any student who flouts the law, with offence bordering on criminality, will have a criminal investigation opened against him or her and prosecuted before a court of competent jurisdiction,†the statement signed by the Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, stressed.
Clashes by students of the rival halls -- University Hall (Katanga) and Unity Hall (Conti) -- in early July left in its wake destruction of properties and a few injuries.
The clashes have usually been fueled by campus politics.
The July 3 clashes happened during the vetting of aspirants for the Students Representative Council (SRC) positions.