Mahama announces 10,000-bed hostel project for University of Ghana

President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to construct a 10,000-bed student hostel at the University of Ghana, describing the project as a major intervention aimed at easing accommodation challenges and improving student safety on campus.

The President made the announcement on Tuesday, 6 January, during the opening ceremony of the University of Ghana’s 77th Annual New Year School and Conference in Accra. He disclosed that the project stems from an agreement signed during a recent official visit to Singapore and will be executed using prefabricated building technology.

“When I went to Singapore, we signed an agreement for a 10,000-student hostel in the University of Ghana,” President Mahama said. “This is going to be a prefabricated building. It means the building will be manufactured somewhere and then assembled on campus.”

According to the President, preparatory work for the project has already begun, with machinery for the factory that will produce the prefabricated components shipped from Singapore and currently en route to Accra.

President Mahama linked the initiative to growing public concern over the accommodation deficit in public universities, referencing a recent social media commentary by academic Professor Kweku Azar comparing student life in earlier decades to the current realities facing undergraduates.

“In his time, you could simply walk to the porter’s lodge, your name would be checked, and you would be given your room key,” the President noted. “Today, most of our students have to live off campus and travel to lectures every day.”

He stressed that the situation has moved beyond inconvenience to become a critical safety issue, citing reports of students being involved in fatal road accidents or falling victim to armed robberies while commuting from off-campus residences.

“There have been unfortunate incidents where students have either been knocked down by vehicles and died, or in some cases been attacked by armed robbers and lost their lives,” he said. “It is preferable that as many students as possible live on campus or very close to campus.”

The President said the hostel project forms part of broader government efforts to enhance access to education and improve student welfare. He added that he had already shared the development with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana as a demonstration of the government’s commitment to supporting public tertiary institutions.

The announcement was made at the 77th Annual New Year School and Conference, hosted by the University of Ghana under the theme “Building the Ghana We Want, Together for Sustainable Development.” The event brings together policymakers, academics, civil society organisations, and students to deliberate on national development priorities and policy solutions.

The University of Ghana, like many public universities across the country, continues to grapple with limited on-campus accommodation, forcing a majority of students to seek housing in surrounding communities amid rising rents and persistent security concerns.