The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, has described as unfortunate the misrepresentation of comments he made on reducing cost to the University by some media portals.

He noted that the quest to reduce cost to the University was not in any way an indictment on any person, group of persons or the immediate past administration of the UCC.

On the 22nd of October 2016, during his induction ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor said the University could channel more money into research if cost accrued from fuel, refreshment, stationery and printing was reduced.

Some media portals have suggested that Prof. Ampiah’s comments indicate that past management of the University of Cape Coast were misappropriating funds and sitting on rot, which is not the situation.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Prof Ampiah noted that with the exception of the misquotation of an amount of 68 million Ghana Cedis purported to have been used on stationery, the other figures reflected the actual amounts used in the running of the University considering its external responsibilities.  But he was quick to add that these expenditures were justified considering the range of services the University had to provide.

He said the University has a population of over a hundred thousand students with about 80% of them located in other parts of the country through the distance education programme with oversight responsibility over Colleges of Education in the Country. “For the College of Distance Education alone, a lot of travelling for supervision, marking and accommodation of staff is required. All these come at a cost to the University, so my vision is to digitize aspects of our work to reduce expenditure and channel these amounts into research”, he said.

Prof. Ampiah added that his comment does not in any way suggest that the immediate past administration of the University was corrupt.

“I am not indicting anyone or my predecessors because I was a part of that administration and an indictment on them is an indictment on myself”, he concluded.

He called on the University Community to support him to move the University forward.