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Central Regional Minister, Hon. Kwamena Duncan, has given the assurance that all major stakeholders in the area, will do all it takes to ensure that the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), which has been closed down indefinitely, is reopened as soon as possible.

According to him, all relevant bodies will liaise with the security council to assess the security situation on campus before it is reopened.

Speaking in an interview with Kwame Nkrumah Tikese on Okayfm's "Ade Akye Abia" programme, he disclosed that "though calm and peace have been restored" on the university campus it was "still imperative to ensure that absolute peace is restored before reopening" for academic work to begin.

"Nonetheless, i can say that there is calm on campus but we will still have to make sure that those properties that were destroyed during the unrest are replaced before students are taken in to begin serious academic work," adding that "as regional minister he will ensure that students do not take the law into their own hands again".

Stand-off & Closure

His remarks follows a stand-off between the students and the Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Professor Anthony Afful-Broni over the dismissal of three lecturers.

The Stand-off which escalated into violent protests saw students smashing windows, glass doors of buildings, burning tyres and clashing with the police.

In the ensuing melee, the Regional Security Council announced the closure of the Winneba and Ajumako campuses last Thursday, March 14, 2019.

Normalcy To Be Restored Soon - Governing Council

Meanwhile the Governing Council of UEW, Professor Emmanuel Nicholas Abakah has called on the university community and students to remain calm as the council takes the necessary steps to resolve the impasse and restore normalcy to campus.

In a statement issued on Sunday, he intimated that the council had noted with concern the recent happenings at the Winneba campus, especially in relation to agitations escalating into violence on lives and properties, adding that “the university was currently assessing the damage caused and would further release a detailed press statement to address the issues including the misinformation that has taken the airwaves regarding the university”.

He further stated that the university is committed to the directive of Mr Kwamena Duncan, the Central Regional Minister to close down the Winneba and Ajumako campuses of the university until further notice.

UEW Governing Council To Address Media 

In a related development, the UEW Governing Council, is set to address in a matter of hours.

This comes after the Governing Council held a closed-door meeting on Monday to fashion out ways to address the impasse which led to the students’ demonstration last week