Article 5 clause (1) of GIJ-SRC
constitution states that ‘the SRC shall be composed of;
· The Executive committee
· The
General assembly
· The
judicial committee
· Hall executives
· Club and society executives and
· The general student body.
Article 12 clause (2) also states
that ‘subject to the provisions of this constitution, the legislative powers of
the SRC shall vest in the General Assembly and shall be exercised in accordance
with this constitution.
Equally important, is article 13
which stipulates the functions of General Assembly which includes but not
limited to;
· Approve
all proposals of dues and levies on the student body by the executive committee
and hall executives. Any such dues approved shall be communicated to the
student body by a legislative instrument and copies shall be made available to
the perusal and knowledge of the Rector, Registrar and Dean of students of GIJ
· Shall
debate and subsequently approve executive committee programs before their
implementation
· Shall
debate and approve periodic financial statements of the executive committee and
shall hold the executive committee in contempt if financial transactions are
made without the prior approval of General Assembly.
Undoubtedly, these articles clearly
positions G.A as the second highest decision making body or arm of GIJ SRC.
It therefore saddens my heart to
say that this strategic position of G.A in the governance structure of GIJ SRC
has been relegated to the background wholly because of G.A inability to assert
itself in matters it ought to.
The great Greek philosopher
Socrates once proclaimed that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living ‘and
since life is worth living it is important that we subject the role played by
G.A currently and in the past to scrutiny for us to ascertain the relevance or
otherwise of G.A and make propositions towards properly positioning G.A in its rightful place.
As rightly indicated by George
Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) ,“if you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet,
you’d best teach it to dance. I am therefore compelled to discuss on this
platform albeit reluctantly some of the teeming problems confronting GIJ
students so that we can jaw jaw on them with the hope of finding lasting
solutions to them. Indeed there is no doubt that GIJ students are confronted
with myriad of problems-ranging from poor state of the female lavatory,
antagonistic relationship between students and the library staff, weak internet
connectivity, the unwarranted infringement on the rights and sovereignty of
students, outdated library books, lecturer absenteeism and lack of projectors
for effective teaching and learning just to mention but a few.
Comrades, obviously the problems confronting GIJ students are enormous
which therefore calls for a proactive, assertive and versatile General Assembly
to complement the efforts of the executive committee to drum home our demands.
For the purpose of this article, and non-members of
General Assembly, Article 12 of GIJ SRC Constitution states that ‘there shall
be a General Assembly of the SRC, and which shall comprise-
· The
speaker
· The
deputy speaker
· The
clerk of General Assembly
· One
representative from each class
· One
other elected member from each class
· Hall
Presidents
· Club
and society Presidents
This
composition clearly shows that G.A is representative and the wisdom behind this,
is to ensure that the views and concerns of every constituency within GIJ are
taken into consideration in the formulation of student-centered programs.
Unfortunately
my fellow compatriots, G.A for the past years has been noted for merely meeting
for the purposes of approving the executive committee program of activities,
debate and approve the budget as well as consider reports from the committees
of G.A, Hall Presidents, external, electoral and women’s commissions to the
detriment of other equally important problems bedeviling the student front of
GIJ.
Comrades, I know you will agree with me that there
is no better FORUM other than G.A for the ventilation of our grievances. G.A I
dare say must be rebranded to play its rightful role.
As a former SRC General Secretary of Ghana Senior
High School, Tamale, I recall that at every ordinary sitting of the SRC, a
special session is dedicated to the collation of grievances from
representatives after they have spoken to their various classes. At the end of
which the most pressing concerns are put together in the form of a communiqué
and presented to the head teacher. Subsequently, the head teacher will call for
a meeting where these issues are deliberated and solutions are found. As
bureaucratic as the process was-it was an avenue for the resolution of
pertinent problems of students of my Alma Mata, despite the fact that the G.A
of the SRC had matters of budgeting to deal with.
My fellow compatriots, it is my beliefs that if G.A
is properly constituted it can relief the SRC Executive of some burden. Indeed
I recall only a few weeks ago that the SRC executive under the able leadership
of Raymond Bayor went round each lecture
room to take inventory of the fans that were not working (which is
unprecedented)while there are G.A reps who could have reported these issues
directly to them for action.
Fortunately, G.A now has under its watch a versatile
and results-oriented speaker, Samuel Creppy, who can champion this cause and
turn the fortunes of G.A around.
Beyond this article comrades, I intend to pursue the
matter, by filing a MOTION at the next sitting of G.A for a creation of a
special session for this purpose and I also want to use this opportunity to
appeal to the would-be constitutional review committee (CRC) to make this at
the top of their agenda.
My personal philosophy as a student leader is that
when I am working on a problem, I never think about the beauty. I only think
about how to solve the problem. But when I finish, if the solution is not
beautiful, I know it is wrong. I therefore want to call on all honorable
members of the house and students to join me to fill what’s empty, empty What’s
Full, and scratch where it itches. I rest my case.
PUSHING THE STUDENTS AGENDA ….I dey for you.
STEVE KUBATE SALIFU
President, Sutherland Hall.
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