The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, UTAG-KNUST, has joined growing calls for the removal of the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), citing what it describes as persistent leadership failures within the country’s public universities.
UTAG-KNUST says it has thrown its full support behind demands for the removal of GTEC Director-General, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, and his Deputy, Professor Augustine Ocloo.
The decision was taken at an Executive Emergency Meeting held on Monday, January 26, 2026, where the association resolved to align itself with a similar position earlier announced by the University of Ghana chapter of UTAG on January 19.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, January 27, UTAG-KNUST accused the leadership of GTEC of turning the Commission into what it described as “a tool for personal vindictiveness rather than an institution focused on improving academic standards.”
The association said several challenges in public universities have worsened under the current GTEC leadership, including deteriorating student-lecturer ratios, unclear policies on post-retirement contracts and extensions for office holders, and the lack of clear guidance to finance directors on whether retired lecturers should remain on university payrolls.
“These uncertainties have left university management helpless and continue to undermine the delivery of quality tertiary education across the country,” the statement said.
UTAG-KNUST is therefore calling on the Chief of Staff at the Presidency to intervene, urging President John Dramani Mahama to remove the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of GTEC on grounds of incompetence.
The association also raised concerns about infrastructure deficits in public universities, noting that “many laboratories and lecture halls are in dire need of renovation, retooling, and expansion to support effective teaching and research.”
UTAG-KNUST says urgent reforms are needed to restore confidence in the governance of Ghana’s tertiary education sector.
BY: NANA ACHIAA ABOAGYE
