The Ghanaian government has dissolved the governing council of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Knust) following violent protests on Monday.
A seven-member interim committee has been appointed to manage the affairs of the university and directed to re-open the university within 14 days for academic work to resume.
The trouble started at Knust, which is in Ghana’s second largest city of Kumasi, last Friday night.
Eleven students were arrested by police after taking part in their usual end-of-week party, known as a jamboree, which the university authorities had recently banned.
Monday’s planned peaceful protests turned violent resulting in the indefinite closure of the university on Tuesday.
The interim committee has been given three months to manage Knust’s affairs and return it to normalcy.
There have been calls for the vice-chancellor of the university to be sacked, but authorities say he will remain in office until the interim committee decides otherwise.
Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Knust) has been shut down and students ordered to leave the institution following violent protests on Monday.
The trouble started at Knust, which is in the country’s second largest city of Kumasi, last Friday night after 11 students were arrested by police after taking part in their usual end-of-week party, known as a jamboree, which the university authorities recently banned.
The students mounted roadblocks, vandalised property and boycotted lectures on Monday, accusing the university’s security and management of brutality.
A joint task force of police and military personnel has now taken over the university campus to maintain calm.
Students have been given up to 12.00 GMT on Tuesday to vacate the campus.
Only foreign students have been exempted from the decision – the authorities say they will be given security protection in their hostels.
Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah, who announced the decision, maintains the shutdown is necessary in view of the extent of the damages.