GETFUND TO TAKE OVER HOSTEL IN TAMALE (PAGE 45)

THE Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) is to take full ownership of the GETFund Hotel on the University for Development Studies (UDS) campus in Tamale.
As a result, the new board of the GETFund has indicated its intention to refund the deposit paid by the UDS in order to reclaim the hotel as part of its vision to promote investment initiatives.
The UDS has, however, expressed its commitment to pursue the GETFund authorities to fulfil its pledge to provide the university with a modest hostel facility exclusively for the use of students as an alternative.
This latest development follows the alleged negative publications the transaction had generated over the purchase of the hotel.
The three-star rated hotel was constructed by the GETFund to accommodate some of the competing teams during the 2008 African Cup of Nations (CAN 2008 ) as Tamale, which was part of the four venues lacked adequate hotel facilities.
In a statement issued by the university last Thursday, it explained that after the games, the GETFund board realised that it would be expensive to rent it out to students because of facilities such as air-conditioners, close-circuit television sets, among other amenities in the structure.
“As a result, GETFund opted to sell out the facility to private investors, giving UDS the first option with the promise to construct a 1,000-bed capacity hostel on the Tamale campus of the university as a replacement,” the statement explained.
It said when the UDS subsequently expressed interest in the purchase of the hostel, it was offered to the university at GH¢6.2 million
The UDS, according to the statement, later paid a 20 per cent deposit of the total amount through the National Investment Bank. The university was thus expected to pay the remaining 80 per cent in three instalments over a period of three years, which is yet to be honoured.
“UDS did not directly pay the GETFund, neither did it issue 42 cheques as published by a section of the press,” the statement said, adding “all these transactions were made with the full knowledge and endorsement of the university council with no secret documentation or malice aforethought whatsoever.”
According to the statement, the reconstituted GETFund board has assured the UDS of its commitment to construct the 1,000-bed capacity student hostel on the Tamale campus as promised, for which the university has already made land available.
An Accra daily on July 9, this year, published a story with the headline “Scandal at Varsity — Vice Chancellor exposed in ¢61 billion deal at UDS Hotel.” This was followed by a related publication in the same paper on July 15, 2009, with the headline, “Sale of ¢62 billion hostel hatched in secret.”
“Management sees these publications as ones which seek to impugn the name of the UDS and the hard-won reputation of the acting VC, Professor Sagary Nokoe. We wish to stress that there are no underhand financial dealings in respect of the said GETFund Hotel at UDS, Tamale,” the statement claimed.