News
ATU admits over 14,000 new students
THE Accra Technical University (ATU) has held a matriculation ceremony for 14,060 students, urging them to uphold academic integrity and innovation.
The ceremony on Saturday formally admitted 18,000 students while a total of 14, 060 registered for the academic year.
Addressing the matriculants, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Amevi Acakpovi, urged the students to build roots before seeking recognition, and master their fundamentals to ensure their growth.
Prof. Acakpovi, highlighted the university’s growth, citing a 23 per cent increase in student population, with a total of 36,199 students, including morning, evening, and weekend programmes.
He said matriculation was their official entrance into the academic community, granting those rights, responsibilities, and identity.
“We are shaping them, giving them a sense, making you a tool so that when you get out of here, you can serve the society in one capacity or the other,” he said.
The vice chancellor likened the university to a workshop where rough, unshaped metal was transformed into a refined product through heat, pressure, precision, and design.
He wished the students a warm welcome to the school, urging them to begin their journey with humility, determination, and purpose.
He said the students may feel the heat of assignments and the pressure of deadlines, but emphasised that it was through these challenges that they would be shaped and strengthened.
He urged them to allow themselves to be refined, so that by the time they graduate, they would not merely hold a certificate, but would have become refined individuals, equipped to serve purpose, saying that today marked the start of their new chapter.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
The Greater Accra Regional Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Moses Abor, has met with the Bono Regional Chairman of the party, Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, to address concerns arising from recent social media developments.
In a statement shared , Mr. Abor said he yesterday visited Chairman Baffoe over comments he made on his show, which had raised concern among some party activists.
According to him, he also engaged Charles Opoku Presidoo and ironed out grievances he had earlier held regarding the matter.
Mr. Abor said he was pleased that in the spirit of unity and the party’s shared commitment to return to power in 2028, they had a constructive conversation and addressed the concerns amicably.
“With the matter now resolved, I encourage all Party activists to let the matter rest and redirect our energy toward holding the NDC accountable for its failures and misleading claims,” he said.
He urged party members to continue making the case to Ghanaians on why Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the right person to lead the country in 2028.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Edmond Kombat, has given a damning account of the state of the refinery inherited in January 2025.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series, Mr. Kombat revealed that the country’s only refinery was on the verge of total collapse.
According to him, the company had accumulated losses of about GH¢10 billion, with its debt rising from $300 million in 2016 to about $517 million.
He disclosed that the refinery’s two major production units were completely non-functional. The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) had been out of operation since April 2021, while the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) Unit had been shut down since 2019.
The units had not received the required maintenance, reducing TOR to largely renting out storage space to Bulk Distribution Companies instead of carrying out its core mandate of refining crude.
Mr. Kombat further stated that much of TOR’s infrastructure was run down or obsolete. Out of the refinery’s 59 storage tanks, 18 were out of service, with some having been out of service since 2004.
On corporate governance, the MD revealed that TOR had not filed audited financial statements for six consecutive years, from 2019 to 2024.
Financially, he noted that the refinery was choked with statutory debts. It owed GH¢200 million to the Ghana Revenue Authority, GH¢20 million to SSNIT, in addition to debts owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana and Ghana Water Company. It also had GH¢190 million in outstanding obligations to staff provident fund, retirees and resignees. It further owed commercial entities and two state-owned companies including GNPC and VRA.
He added that staff morale was at its lowest, with staff leaving, the workforce divided, and more than 300 petitions over delayed promotions, some dating back ten years, awaiting review.
Perhaps most shocking, Mr. Kombat revealed that between 2019 and 2024, TOR sold third-party products belonging to three Bulk Distribution Companies, valued at millions of dollars, to pay staff salaries without the knowledge of the product owners.
By the end of 2024, TOR had negative equity of GH¢7.6 billion and was on the verge of being sold or leased for a paltry $21 million.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
