Cabinet Directs Reversal of UMaT and Other Public Universities to Their Previous Names.

Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has announced that the government intends to restore the original names of all public universities that were renamed during the Akufo-Addo administration.

He revealed that Cabinet has already directed the Ministry of Education to prepare a bill for presentation to Parliament to formalize the decision.

Addressing the House on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, the Bawku Central MP explained that the move seeks to correct the widespread renaming of tertiary institutions after prominent individuals under the previous government.

“Mr. Speaker, Cabinet has directed that all universities renamed after individuals should revert to their original names.
A bill will soon be presented to Parliament to implement this directive,” Mr. Ayariga told legislators.

During former President Akufo-Addo’s tenure, several universities and technical institutions had their names changed. Notable among them were:

• The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa, renamed George Grant University of Mines and Technology.
• The Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), renamed Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies.
• The Navrongo Campus of UDS, renamed C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences.
• The Ho Technical University, renamed Ephraim Amu Technical University.

The decision to rename these schools was heavily criticised by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the time, which argued that the changes reflected political bias and failed to represent Ghana’s national diversity.

If approved, the new bill will see all affected universities revert to their previous names, effectively undoing one of the symbolic legacies of the Akufo-Addo administration.