Mahama’s claim of NDC building every public university completely false

Former President and Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has said that the NDC initiated and built every public university in the country.

He made the claim on Saturday, February 3, 2024, while addressing the audience at his ‘Building Ghana Tour’ in Zuarungu in the Upper East Region.

According to Mr Mahama, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) had developed a penchant for renaming public universities built before it came to power after its heroes. He promised to restore the names the universities had prior to the Akufo-Addo administration assuming power.

Fact-Check Ghana has verified the claim by the flagbearer of the NDC and presents the details below

Claim: “Every public university was initiated and built by us [NDC]”.

Verdict: Completely False

Explanation:

The National Democratic Congress has been in existence since 1992. The party was first led by the late Jerry John Rawlings, who transitioned from a military leader after 11 years to lead the country from 1993-2000; followed by the late Prof. John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (2009–2012) and then John Dramani Mahama (July 2012–Jan 2017).

A number of tertiary institutions existed in Ghana before the formation of the NDC 32 years ago. According to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, Ghana has 26 public universities across the country.

The table below shows the list of all public universities in Ghana and the years they were established.

The renamed universities (*)

Since coming to power, the Akufo-Addo administration has granted autonomy to two campuses of UDS and UEW and renamed them as full-fledged universities, while merging three other universities before renaming them.

The UDS Wa and Navrongo campuses were renamed in 2020 as Simon Diedong Dombo University for Business and Integrated Development Studies and C.K Tadem University for Technology and Applied Sciences respectively.

COLTEK and CAGRIC, on the other hand, were former campuses of UEW and were renamed as Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development.

Also, GIJ, GIL and NAFTI were merged and named University of Media, Arts and Communication (UNIMAC) in 2020. In 2018, Wa Technical University was renamed as Dr Hilla Limann University.

Universities built during the National Democratic Congress’ term of office

Out of the country’s 26 public universities, the following are the universities built during the tenures of the NDC:

• UDS Tamale (1992)
• UDS, Navrongo (1995)
• UDS, Wa (1995)
• Bolgatanga Technical University (1999)
• Koforidua Technical University (1997).
• University of Health and Allied Sciences (2011)
• University of Energy and Natural Resources (2011)
• University of Environment and Sustainable Development (initiated in 2015)

The remaining universities were established either during periods when the NDC had not been established or was not in power.

From the above, it is evident that the claim by John Mahama that every public university was initiated and built by the NDC is completely false.