�I Did Not Insult Rastafarians�

Kwasi Okyere-Darko, an administrator of the Valley View University, has reacted to a news publication about an interview he granted Hitz FM�s Abubakar Ahmed, popularly known as Blakk Rasta, explaining that he has been misunderstood. The said publication noted that Mr. Okyere-Darko had made certain comments against Rastafarians. According to him, he never meant to say anything against the Rastafarian community even if he erred in his explanations to some questions posed to him during a recent interview. �In the course of that interview, I was asked some questions on issues bordering on admissions and code of conduct of students of Valley View University. �In the course of granting the interview, I am reported to have made some comments that have been misunderstood and misrepresented to the public,� he noted. A statement issued in Accra and signed by Mr. Okyere-Darko noted that he was only approached to comment on a statement that had been made by the Minister of Employment, Moses Asaga, that the private universities in Ghana were responsible for graduate unemployment in this country since they admitted unqualified undergraduates and churned out low quality graduates. �I therefore sincerely and humbly wish to apologize to the entire Ghanaian populace and especially to my good brothers in the Rastafarian community, if I have in any way offended them�. According to the statement, it was not Mr. Okyere-Darko�s intention to offend any group of people in the society. He therefore found it unfortunate that he was misunderstood. �As an administrator of a renowned university in Ghana, I am very aware of the damage any such comments could do to myself and to the institution I work for�. The statement noted that Valley View University, as a Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher learning, stood by its good old values of love, respect for all human beings and sought to uphold the dignity and religious liberty of all people. �I must emphatically state that the university operates a non-discriminatory admission policy and thus it is open to all who are qualified to apply regardless of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, gender or marital status�, it said.