The University of Ghana (UG) branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) have threatened to embark on an industrial action or petition the office of the Chief of Staff if the called Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, and his Deputy, Prof. Augustine Ocloo, do not resign preemptively by January 31, 2026.

The lecturers' union made this demand in a strongly worded 4-page document dated January 19, signed by its president and secretary, Dr Jerry Joe Harrison and Dr Godfred B. Hagan, respectively, accused the GTEC bosses of ignoring deep problems in universities, overstepping its legal authority, weakening university governance, and making harmful policy decisions.

“UTAG-UG calls on the DG, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, DDG, Prof. Augustine Ocloo, to resign honourably by 31st of January 2026. Failure to do so will result in (a) a petition to the Chief-of-Staff for their removal (b) industrial action if necessary”, parts of the statement noted.

According to them, while the tertiary regulator is mandated to seek the interest of tertiary schools in Ghana, it has rather shifted its focus to what the association described as “tangential and sometimes frivolous actions,” including pursuing individuals with alleged fake degrees, while ignoring systemic challenges affecting public tertiary education in Ghana.

It went on to question GTEC’s legal mandate, particularly its involvement in the removal of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong. According to UG-UTAG, the conduct of the public tertiary education regulator has severely affected the quality of education in Ghana.

Consequently, it went on to school GTEC on its mandate, noting that, “GTEC appears to have lost its way and is now being used to settle scores. Instead of promoting good governance in public tertiary education institutions, it engages in actions that undermine it. For instance, under what legal mandate did GTEC remove the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong? If GTEC claims regulatory authority, which specific provision in Act 1023 empowers such an Intervention? There is clear confusion at GTEC’s leadership level regarding its advisory versus regulatory roles. Under the advisory role, GTEC is enjoined to “recommend standards and norms on governance, financing, academic programmes, staff costs, accommodation and time utilisation, for the approval of the Minister”.

It went on to state that its reiteration of GETC’s mandate is not to undermine the authority of Governing Councils of public tertiary education institutions, but it has become necessary because under the leadership of the two Professors,

“Governing Councils of all the public tertiary universities, established by law, have effectively been rendered useless and powerless. Vice-Chancellors have been reduced to toothless bulldogs, nonentities and persona non grata on their various campuses. Decisions legally taken by Governing Councils of public tertiary institutions are reversed by GTEC without a clear legal basis. How is GTEC able to overturn the decisions of institutions whose Councils it sits on, and under what legal authority?”

UTAG raised critical questions regarding GTEC’s performance, asking: “What is the expected student-to-teacher ratio in our institutions, and what is the current ratio? What infrastructure requirements does GTEC prescribe, and how do current facilities measure up? What mechanisms are in place to ensure these standards are met?”

UTAG further pointed out that the government’s refusal to approve staff recruitment over the past three years has increased lecturers’ workloads, negatively impacted staff well-being, and reduced teaching quality. At the same time, bureaucratic adherence to procurement laws continues to hamper teaching and research, yet UTAG alleges that GTEC has failed to act as a strong advocate for public tertiary education.

UG-UTAG slams GTEC over university’s fee hike and how it was handled

UG-UTAG also slammed GTEC for overreacting, failing to verify facts, abusing its authority, leading to a heavy embarrassment of the university unnecessarily over how it handled media reports on an ‘alleged’ 25% hike in school fees .

It noted, “ For instance, when SRC and GRASAG levies were increased at the University of Ghana following due process, simply acting on a false media report, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai,as DG of GTEC, wrote to the University of Ghana and leaked to the media, requesting that UG rescinds the 25% increment in school fees, threatening serious regulatory sanctions if such a decision was not reversed and refunds given to students by a certain date. This turned out to be a hoax as no such increment had been occasioned. He could have ascertained the veracity or otherwise of such a report through a phone call to the management of University of Ghana before misleading the public.”

On their part, “These recurring mishaps are not accidental – they represent a pattern of incompetent administration that undermines (a) academic freedom enshrined and protected in the 1992 constitution; (b) institutional autonomy essential to drive the national development agenda and (c) the vision and principles UTAG defended when opposing the now infamous Public Universities Bill. If these actions go unchecked, the consequences for Ghana’s tertiary education system will be dire.”

To address these concerns and prevent future occurrence, the lecturers Union have demanded an “Immediate enactment of a Legislative Instrument (LI) that will guide the implementation of Act 1023 to forestall future abuse of power by leadership of GTEC.”