By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Oct.15, GNA – Dr Chika Mba, Principal Investigator, Merian Institute of Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), says Ghanaian scholars do not have academic freedom in critiquing government policies and programmes though the atmosphere is conducive for it.
He said the scholars, academics and researchers only enjoyed academic peace in giving dissenting views or contributing to knowledge for national and societal transformation by scrutinising government’s decisions.
Speaking at the MIASA-MECAM Roundtable on “Academic Freedom and Research Ethics: Exploring Dynamics in Ghana, Tunisia and Germany,” Dr Mba, said, academic freedom had not been clearly defined in Ghana and it had not also attracted any serious repercussions for its violation by either internal or external actors.
He said Ghana’s academic freedom may be synonymous with institutional autonomy because both go “hand-in-hand,” however, they are not the same, adding that University campuses had seen difficult moments since independence.
“This can be seen from the era of Presidents becoming Chancellors, beginning from Dr Kwame Nkrumah to the imposition of structural adjustments policy of higher education at the time of the late Jerry John Rawlings. Lecturers have had difficult moments with their dissenting views on the agenda government seeks to achieve,” the Principal Investigator said.
He said though colonialism had been over, several African Universities were still appendages of foreign universities where the former had been micromanaged by the latter and other external forces.
Prof Emma Beitaief, Vice President, University de Tunis and Principal Investigator, Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), said Tunisia’s academic freedom had been curtailed for decades until 2011 when the country had a revolution leading to democratisation and academic freedom.
She said in the early years of their democracy, more people, women, young students, academics amongst others stood their grounds and helped make academic freedom operational. Prof Rashid Quaissa, MECAM Director, Germany, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said, academic freedom demands that scholars explain complex issues in simple terms using media for development and not only to write articles.
He urged academics who operate under restricted and authoritarian regimes to be creative in building up society’s knowledge for the greater good.
Prof Joseph Awetori Yaro, Provost, College of Humanities, University of Ghana, said the topic was relevant especially in Ghana as the country had been plagued by ‘destructive mining’ which is popularly known as illegal mining.
He said: “This is where academic freedom and research ethics come in, do we keep quiet because we belong to the political party in power, do we keep quiet for the environment to be destroyed because a position is given to us by the Government?,” he said.
Prof Yaro said scholars should remember that academic freedom and building up knowledge must be guided by that ethical standards, adding that academic papers, journals and research must not serve only their intellectual curiosity but the greater good in solving real life problems.
GNA