The Chairman of Parliament’s Education Committee, Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, has said the decision to rename some public universities is intended to promote national cohesion and remove partisan undertones from Ghana’s tertiary education system.
Parliament recently approved amendment bills affecting several institutions, including the former C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, which will now be known as the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo.
Lawmakers also passed legislation allowing the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies in Wa to adopt the neutral name University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS).
Speaking on Citi FM on Monday, 22 December, the Akatsi North MP explained that the earlier names were linked to political personalities associated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its ideological forebears, including the Progress Party.
He argued that such naming choices risked injecting partisan considerations into public institutions intended to serve the entire nation.
According to Mr Nortsu-Kotoe, attaching the names of political figures to universities—particularly within specific regions—fostered division rather than unity.
He stressed that public universities should reflect shared national values, not political allegiance or historical party lines.
Mr Nortsu-Kotoe noted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had consistently raised concerns about the practice and had committed to reversing it when given the mandate.
“We cautioned that it was not appropriate to name universities after certain political figures,” he said, adding that Ghana has many notable personalities across all regions who could be recognised in other ways.
He maintained that the renaming exercise is a step towards depoliticising education and strengthening national unity, insisting that the changes are not about erasing history but about ensuring fairness and inclusiveness in the country’s public institutions.
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