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Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of operations at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Prof. Michael Ayamga-Adongo, has accused the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) of overstepping its mandate and acting like “headmasters of tertiary education” instead of focusing on its core duty of safeguarding academic quality.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Tuesday, August 19, Prof. Ayamga-Adongo argued that the Commission has shifted from its regulatory role to policing individuals while continuing to grant accreditation to universities that fall below acceptable standards.
“I think that GTEC is overreaching. They are becoming like the headmasters of tertiary education in this country and more or less leaving their core mandate, which is regulating the quality of tertiary institutions. In the case of the deputy minister, you can just see that this is a case where they want to name and shame people,” he said.
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The EPA Deputy CEO criticised GTEC for accrediting poorly equipped universities, describing some of the facilities he had visited as “sickening”. He stressed that the Commission should prioritise fixing systemic weaknesses instead of targeting individuals.
“They are the very ones that are giving accreditation to very poor universities, and when you enter some universities, it is sickening to think of what they come to do in our universities in the name of accreditation. These get through, and that is where they should be policing,” he said.
Prof. Ayamga-Adongo further linked the rise of fake and substandard degrees in Ghana to GTEC’s failure to enforce quality standards. “The reason we have fake and bad degrees in the system is that very poorly equipped institutions end up getting accredited by this same GTEC. Their core mandate is to get the government to equip our universities to deliver quality education so that we don’t have certificates without substance,” he added.
His comments come amid a dispute between GTEC and Deputy Health Minister and Essikadu-Ketan MP, Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, over her use of the title “professor”.
GTEC has cautioned Dr Ayensu-Danquah against presenting herself as a professor, insisting that documents submitted to verify her academic status contained inconsistencies. In a letter to the Chief of Staff, the Commission requested proof of her professorial appointment by August 11, 2025.
Her lawyers, led by David K. Ametefe, responded on August 8, maintaining that she was appointed an Assistant Professor of Surgery by the University of Utah in the United States.
They argued that GTEC has no authority to question foreign academic appointments and issued a 14-day ultimatum demanding that the Commission withdraw its position or face legal action.
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