The Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, has disclosed that a significant number of foreign institutions that confer doctorate degrees to Ghanaians lack proper accreditation, which raises substantial concerns regarding the legitimacy of such qualifications.
GTEC has recently uncovered a multitude of individuals possessing ‘fake’ academic credentials, along with several Ghanaian universities functioning without the necessary accreditation.
During a TV discussion in Sunday, December 14, 2025, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor stated that GTEC’s investigations indicate that the operations of many of these foreign institutions are dubious.
“Some certificates that are claimed to have been gotten from some institutions are invalid because the basis upon which those certificates were given are questionable. In our case, we have come to realize that a number of these institutions that happen not to be in Ghana, most of these institutions happen to be foreign institutions, they don’t have accreditation.
“The operation is questionable and in each of these, we do serious checks and even engage the individuals,” he stated.
Prof. Ahmed Jinapor pointed out that the publicly identified cases represent merely a small portion of the individuals the Commission has scrutinized concerning dubious doctorate degrees.
He stressed that most individuals, upon realizing the gravity of their misconduct, consent to cease using the unaccredited or honorary doctorate titles.
The GTEC head refuted allegations that the Commission’s actions are driven by personal vendetta.
“And to be honest with you, most of the people that we engage, when they understand and appreciate the dynamics of where they find themselves, they just say, ‘we are not interested. I was given an honorary doctorate…with the intention that I could use it but if the regulator say that I cannot use it and it dilutes the environment, I am ready to let it go’,” he added.
“I can say for a fact that 99% of all the individuals who have come in the public domain, we have had some form of engagement with them. Private conversations, written letters and in most instances those who have agreed based on our conversation to shelve those degrees are more than who happen not to.
“It is only a few who I am hesitant not to use the word recalcitrant who more or less refuse to our advice. It is not as if it is an issue of personal vendetta. Most of these people, we don’t even know them,” he added.
