The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has announced the suspension of all major requests from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) over a protracted dispute concerning the tenure of Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong.
In a letter dated Monday, September 22, 2025, and addressed to the Registrar of UCC, GTEC said the decision followed the inability of the university’s Governing Council to act on Prof. Boampong’s appointment due to a High Court injunction issued on October 8, 2024.
According to the Commission, despite this injunction, the Vice-Chancellor has remained in office beyond the compulsory retirement age.
As a result, GTEC said it will no longer process any requests from UCC regarding:
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Accreditation
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Government salary subventions
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GETFund support
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Book and Research Allowance
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Post-retirement contracts
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Financial clearance for recruitment
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Any other related applications
The directive, signed by Prof. Augustine Ocloo, Acting Deputy Director-General of GTEC, emphasised that the suspension takes “immediate effect” and will continue until there is “full compliance with the directive and evidence of compliance is furnished to the Commission.”
A check by Citi Newsroom on the Commission’s website further showed that UCC had been removed from the official list of public universities, with the site indicating that the institution “does not exist.”
Just last week, GTEC directed Prof. Boampong to step aside, stating that his continued stay in office violated retirement regulations.
In a letter dated Friday, September 19, 2025, the Commission wrote:
“The Office of the Vice-Chancellor, being an office established under Section 7(1) of the University of Cape Coast Act, 1992 (PNDCL 278), is a public office under the meaning and intendment of Article 199(1). Hence, anyone acting in the office of the Vice-Chancellor is presumptively mandated to proceed on compulsory retirement upon attaining 60 years.”
The Commission also cited the University of Cape Coast Statutes (2016), which state that the Vice-Chancellor serves a four-year term, renewable for another three years only if the statutory retirement age has not been exceeded.
In the meantime, GTEC has directed the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Denis Worlanyo Aheto, to act as Vice-Chancellor.
It also instructed the UCC Governing Council to hold off on appointing a substantive replacement until the pending case before the Cape Coast High Court is determined.
