The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is intensifying efforts to curb the misuse of academic titles following concerns about politician Hassan Ayariga’s use of the title “Doctor” without verified academic credentials.
Speaking at a press briefing, Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, announced that the Commission is prepared to prosecute individuals who fraudulently present themselves with unearned academic qualifications.
“We’ve had engagements with such individuals, but now we are moving towards naming, shaming, and legal enforcement,” he said.
According to Prof. Jinapor, Mr. Ayariga has publicly claimed to hold three doctorate degrees — two honorary and one earned PhD.
“He claimed three degrees—two honorary, one academic. We asked for proof of the academic only,” the Director-General explained.
Despite multiple attempts, GTEC says it has not received any proof validating the academic doctorate.
“We didn’t hear from him. We sent him a message. We didn’t hear from him. Then we wrote to him officially. The official letter was not made public. But he responded in writing and signed it as Dr. Hassan Ayariga,” Prof. Jinapor revealed.
When asked again to provide evidence, Mr. Ayariga refused, even though his accounts of his PhD have been inconsistent.
“He had an interview with Bola Ray sometime back and said his PhD was in business management with the thesis being in political science. Then he had another interview with Paul Adom-Otchere and said his PhD is in political science and his thesis is in political tolerance,” Prof. Jinapor recounted. “This is quite interesting.”
Addressing the wider issue of academic title misuse, Prof. Jinapor stressed the Commission’s authority.
As a body mandated with the regulation of titles when it comes to academia, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission wants to emphasize that individuals cannot use the title ‘Honorable Doctor,’ or ‘Doctor (Honorable),’ or ‘Doctor (Honorable Courser),’ or ‘Honorable Prof.,’ or ‘Prof. Honorable Courser.’”
He continued, “I have had people in academia, people in higher authority, who have said, my opinion is that you can use Doctor slash Honorable Courser. The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission wants to state for the avoidance of doubt that you cannot use that. Individuals using these titles based on honorary degrees violate Act 1023.”
“Such acts will be treated as public deception and prosecuted accordingly,” he warned.
Prof. Jinapor also called on media houses to exercise caution when verifying academic credentials.
“As media outlets, don’t just take information like that. Do your background checks. If someone is doing something illegal and you’re facilitating it, that’s conspiracy,” he said.
While commending most media outlets for their professionalism, he singled out two organizations for exemplary diligence.
“Two media houses have been very forthright in this. It’s Graphic and Citi TV,” Prof. Jinapor concluded.
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