The government of Ghana announced actions here on Thursday to restore peaceful academic activity on the campus of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The school was closed down on Tuesday by the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) following violent riots by students who were protesting what they termed "the high-handedness" of the authorities.

The government announced its decision which included the dissolution of the University Council here by a press statement after receiving advice from the fact-finding committee that was dispatched to the school located in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city, 280 km north of the capital.

"Government has dissolved the KNUST Council and, in its stead, put in place a seven-member Interim Council. It has also directed that the university reopens within fourteen days to enable academic work to continue," the statement announced.

Although the REGSEC had imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the school, the government ordered the reopening of the university within 14 days to enable academic work to resume.

On why the governing council was dissolved, the statement explained that that council was not in a position to review its own processes and decisions affecting the student body to guarantee peace.

Paramount Chief of Bompata Traditional area, near Kumasi, Nana Effa Apenteng, was named the chairman of the Interim Governing Council over the three-month period that its work covers.

The demonstration organized by the Students Representative Council (SRC) turned violent on Monday as the rampaging students set fire to vehicles, and broke parts of the school's administration.