John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has stated that the next NDC government would change the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS) to University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS).
The SDD-UBIDS was established in 2019 by an Act of Parliament (Act 1001, 2019) and came into being in May 2020. The Act mandates the university to be an outstanding internationally-acclaimed applied research and practical-oriented educational institution dedicated to the development of business and integrated development studies and related matters.
Mr Mahama criticized the Akufo-Addo administration for renaming the university. He noted that Simon Diedong Dombo did not play any role in establishing the university and hence it cannot be named after him.
He highlighted the critical role played by former President Jerry John Rawlings in establishing the University for Development Studies (UDS), which gave birth to SDD-UBIDS.
“If any name should have been given to this university, that name should have been the name of JJ Rawlings, he won the world food price, they gave him $50, 000 price money and what did he do? He used it as seed money to start the University of Developmet Studies,” he stated.
Mr Mahama was speaking to members of the Tertiary Education Institution Network (TEIN) at the SDD-UBIDS during his three-day campaign tour of the Upper West Region.
“Nobody has any business going to dredge up some ancient person who is the father of some political tradition and come and put his name on an institution for which he has absolutely no relationship.
“So 7th January, 2025 when we finish Independence Square, we will go through the process of restoring the name of this university to simply the University for Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS),” Mr Mahama added.
Mr Mahama criticized the current administration for abandoning the infrastructure projects that the NDC administration had started before leaving office.
He mentioned specific projects that have been left unfinished by the current administration and stated that the NDC would ensure the completion of all unfinished and abandoned projects once they are in power.
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