On 8th August 2020, the National Union of Ghanaian Students(NUGS) released a circular informing all stakeholders of a decision by the National Executive Council to extend the mandate of the current leadership for three months (September, October, and November 2020) with the thinking that schools would have reopened by September 2020. However, schools were only opened in January 2021 following a presidential directive.
On Wednesday, February 3 2021, hypercitigh.com chanced on some loyalists of Mr. Yiadom Boakye (YB), a student of KNUST and a NUGS presidential aspirant share a flyer for a ONE ON ONE interview with Mr. Richard Amofa-Sarpong on the YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SHOW on Pan African TV on the topic NUGS ELECTIONS AND MATTERS ARISING scheduled for the next day at 1 pm.
On Thursday, February 4 2021, flyers indicating the inclusion of the NUGS President Mr. Jay Hyde with the same details making waves on social media.
Speaking on as to why till date NUGS has not gone for congress to elect the next set of leaders to lead the student body and other equally important matters, Mr. Jay Hyde, NUGS President made it clear that they were not interested in holding on to power and that they recognize the significance of the change of power.
He pointed out that the students needed to form the electoral college are still not set.
He cited the inability to pay dues which is key to the running of NUGS, congress, and elections.
Lastly, he talked about the covid-19 situation which has necessitated the ban on social gatherings
“We had our NEC Meeting just this Saturday and so it will be misleading for someone to think that we deliberately want to hold on to power. We are just beneficiaries of a certain unfortunate incident that has befallen the world” was part of the Mr. Jay Hyde’s response to why up till now no NUGS Congress and elections haven’t been held.
Mr. Yiadom Boakye Reaction
However, Mr. Yiadom Boakye, a student, and a NUGS President Hopeful seem to disagree with the leadership of NUGS. He saw the show as an opportunity to set the records straight and communicate the way forward, particularly when the NUGS Facebook page posted the new flyer with the caption “SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT“.
In his own words “I was excited thinking there was going to be a road map on how things are going to be done but to my utmost dismay and disappointment, our leader was only interested in explaining and endorsing his long stay in the office which is contrary to the laws of the union”
Reacting to some of the reasons raised for having not held congress all this while, YB pointed out the fact that NUGS dues are paid at Congress by schools and shouldn’t be used as an excuse.
“COVID 19 is a big problem globally but can not be an excuse since there is no ban on conferences now or we are waiting for that to happen to validate the constitutional breaches?” he quizzed.
He expressed his dissatisfaction that “the Jay Hyde led administration is using Covid-19 as a shield to perpetuate illegality and overstay in office”.
Source: Hypercitigh.com
