GTEC Rejects UPSA’s Two Pro-Vice-Chancellor Appeal

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has turned down an appeal from the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) to retain two Pro-Vice-Chancellors, declaring the appointments a violation of existing laws and university statutes.

In a directive issued in a letter dated October 16, 2025, and signed by GTEC Director-General, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, the Commission recommended that the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor be declared vacant and publicly advertised for qualified candidates to apply.

The UPSA Governing Council, at a special meeting held on June 7, 2024, appointed Professor Emmanuel Selase Asamoah as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and Professor Samuel Antwi as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Knowledge Transfer. Both appointments took effect on January 1, 2025.

However, these appointments were flagged as a breach of Section 17(1) of the University of Professional Studies Act, 2012 (Act 850), which stipulates that “The Council shall appoint a Pro-Vice-Chancellor in accordance with the statutes of the University”—not two.

In response to concerns raised, UPSA wrote to the Ministry of Education on October 8, 2025, requesting that the two officials be allowed to serve out their full terms, and copied GTEC in the correspondence.

But GTEC’s response maintained that the university violated both its internal regulations and national legal frameworks. It cited the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), which requires tertiary institutions to seek GTEC approval before creating positions that have financial implications for the state.

According to GTEC, “The institution [UPSA] not only failed to seek clearance from GTEC as required by law but also appointed these two persons in conflict with its own Statutes, making such an action illegal.”

The Commission referred to Regulation 7.0 of the UPSA Statutes, which, like Act 850, allows for only one Pro-Vice-Chancellor to be appointed.

Further, GTEC cited the Public Service Commission (PSC) regulations, noting that while appointments can be terminated with 60 days’ notice for valid reasons, no such justification had been provided in this case.

In its final directive, GTEC advised UPSA to:

• Declare the Pro-Vice-Chancellor position vacant.
• Advertise the role for eligible candidates.
• Avoid using Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to sustain the contested appointments.
• Ensure any future amendments to the university’s statutes align with national laws.

At the time of their appointment:

• Prof. Asamoah, then Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Studies, was tasked with overseeing academic and student affairs.
• Prof. Antwi, former Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, became the first to lead a portfolio focused on research and innovation.

GTEC’s ruling is expected to guide compliance and governance within UPSA and other tertiary institutions moving forward.