The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has pledged government support to help address infrastructure challenges at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS) while endorsing the university’s bid to become one of the institutions accredited to run Ghana’s new Bar Practice Programme for law graduates.
Speaking at the university’s second congregation for the School of Law and special graduation ceremony for the School of Graduate Studies in Wa on Saturday, Bagbin acknowledged the institution’s pressing infrastructure needs, including inadequate lecture halls, student accommodation, office space, research facilities, roads, recreational amenities and campus security.
He noted that several stalled projects on campus highlighted the urgent need for government intervention and said the university also required a perimeter wall to protect it from encroachment.
According to the Speaker, government’s ongoing efforts to complete abandoned tertiary education projects would significantly improve UBIDS’ infrastructure within the next two years. He also welcomed the recent release of seed funding by the Ministry of Education to support financially distressed public universities, describing it as timely assistance for the institution.
Bagbin recalled that UBIDS had faced persistent financial constraints since its separation from the University for Development Studies, adding that the university had demonstrated remarkable resilience despite limited resources.
Support for expansion
The Speaker expressed support for the university’s plans to establish new academic units, including Schools of Medical Sciences, Tourism and Hospitality, and Property Sciences, as well as Faculties of Health Sciences, Agriculture and Food Processing, and Extraction Sciences.
On plans to establish a medical school, Bagbin revealed that he had been working to upgrade the Upper West Regional Hospital into a teaching hospital. He said this included facilitating the installation of six dialysis machines this year with support from Members of Parliament from the region.
He further disclosed that he had facilitated a partnership between UBIDS and the Gulf Medical University in the United Arab Emirates to support the establishment of a medical school for the Upper West Region.
According to him, the initiative was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed during a visit to Ajman by a delegation that included Divine Ndondi Banyubala, Titus Beyuo and representatives from the University of Ghana Medical School.
Backs UBIDS for Bar Practice Programme
Addressing graduating law students, Bagbin highlighted the passage of the Legal Education Reform Act, 2026 (Act 1170), which ended the monopoly of the Ghana School of Law in training professional lawyers.
Under the new law, accredited universities will be allowed to run a one-year Bar Practice Programme for their LLB graduates before they sit a standardised national bar examination.
The Speaker said he was aware that UBIDS was seeking accreditation to become one of the first five universities to offer the programme and declared his full support for the university’s application.
He also announced a donation of law books to the Faculty of Law and revealed plans to meet the University’s Governing Council later this month or in early August to discuss additional support.
Commends resilience
Bagbin praised the university’s Governing Council, led by Benjamin Kumbuor, together with Vice-Chancellor Emmanuel Kunchebe Derbile, management, faculty and students for steering the institution through years of financial and infrastructural challenges.
He encouraged the university to strengthen its focus on applied research, entrepreneurship, public policy analysis and community engagement, particularly on issues affecting northern Ghana.
Congratulating the graduands and their families, the Speaker urged the new graduates to uphold discipline, integrity and professionalism while using their knowledge in service to their communities and the nation.
He concluded by reaffirming his commitment to building “a peaceful, clean, prosperous, inclusive, innovative, free and just Ghana” and wished the university continued growth and success.
