The Management of the Ho Technical University (HTU) has denied claim by the Asogli Traditional Council (ATC) that the government wants to change the name of the university to Dr Ephraim Amu Technical University. According to the university authorities, they are not aware of such a decision.
A statement signed by the Registrar, Dr Christopher K. Amehoe, said the University received a letter dated April 20, 2024 addressed to the Vice Chancellor and signed on behalf of the Asogli Traditional Council, by the Secretary to the Council, Mr Stephen Tetteh.
According to the statement, the University authorities had taken notice of a press conference held by the Asogli Traditional Council preceding the presentation of the letter to the University, which was unfortunate.
The statement continued that the Vice Chancellor had neither been invited to, nor participated in any meeting or event regarding renaming of the University as the Asogli Traditional Council alleged.
It added that the University had initiated steps to engage with the Asogli Traditional Council to address concerns in relation to the renaming of the University to promote peace and progress of the institution.
Meanwhile, the letter written by the Asogli Traditional Council to the ,university stated that the attention of the Council has once again been drawn to the attempts by the authorities of HTU and the government to rename the institution as Dr Ephraim Amu Technical University.
According to the Asogli Traditional Council, it views the decision of the government and the Governing Council of the University to change the name of the University without due consultation with major stakeholders including the Asogli Traditional Council, who are the custodians of the land as unfortunate.
The Asogli Traditional Council said it reaffirmed strong opposition to the government decision to rename the university without consultation with the chiefs and people of Ho, who played crucial roles in the establishment of the university as inappropriate.
The letter stressed that the concern of the Council was sensitive by the fact that the proposed name did not align with the university in any way, adding that names carried significant meanings and could impact the university positively or negatively.
The Council concluded that mush as the chiefs and people of Asogli recognised the achievements of Dr Ephraim Amu and his contributions to the development of the country, especially in the areas of music and culture, these achievements and contributions though laudable, had limited relevance to the academic progress and mission of the Technical University.
