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The Deputy Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan, Grace Ayensu-Danquah, has fired back at the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, accusing him of spreading “fake news, misinformation and disinformation” to destroy her hard-earned academic reputation for political gain. In a social media post on October 25, 2025, Ayensu-Danquah alleged that the GTEC boss had acted in bad faith and failed to follow due process in addressing concerns about her academic credentials. “You use fake news, misinformation and disinformation in an attempt to damage extremely hard-earned, unblemished, stellar academic credentials for cheap political gain instead of performing your duties with due diligence,” she wrote. She continued, “You use information obtained on social media to perform high-level, complex academic exercises and send a quack board chair to extort. “No due diligence, no due process, no meeting in person, no meeting of any panel of experts, zero proper evaluation by properly laid-down procedures. Just bullying, conjecture, and ad hominem attacks. “No nothing! Just pure hate and envy for a failed political hatchet job. You are not even fit for purpose.” Her outburst follows a directive from GTEC cautioning her against using the title “Professor”, insisting that she does not qualify to hold the title under Ghana’s academic standards. According to GTEC, a verification exercise revealed that Ayensu-Danquah’s claim of being an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah was inconsistent with the institution’s official records. A letter from Prof W Bradford Rockwell, Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah, confirmed that Ayensu-Danquah had been appointed as an Adjunct Assistant Professor, a non-tenure-track position. Under Ghana’s academic framework, such a position is equivalent to a part-time lecturer and not a full professor. GTEC therefore cautioned the Deputy Minister to desist from using the professorial title, warning that failure to comply could result in legal action for public deception. Ironically, GTEC’s caution came just days after Prof Jinapor Abdulai himself became the subject of a Right to Information (RTI) petition questioning the authenticity of his own academic qualifications. The petition, filed by a concerned citizen, Kwame Simpe Ofori, on October 24, 2025, requested detailed information from GTEC’s Governing Board about Prof Abdulai’s academic and professional credentials. Copies of the petition were sent to the Minister of Education, the Chairman of the Public Services Commission and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). In response, GTEC issued a statement through its Acting Director of Corporate Affairs, Jerry Sarfo, outlining Prof Abdulai’s academic background, including: BA (First Class Honours) in Philosophy and Religions, University of Ghana (1998–2001) MA in International Affairs, Ohio University, USA (2003–2005) Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Curriculum and Instruction, West Virginia University, USA (2005–2009) Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, UEW (2016–2017) His academic journey was also detailed from Lecturer at UEW (2010–2014) to Director-General of GTEC (2024–present). GTEC maintained that Prof Abdulai is fully qualified for his role and pledged to make all supporting documents available to its Governing Board for review.
