An apparently confused management of the University of Ghana-Legon (UG) has had a curious change of mind by suspending two popular lecturers for sexual misconduct even though it had earlier said there was no evidence to prove the offence.
On Monday, February 17, 2020, the University in a dramatic u-turn, of Ghana slapped a suspension order on two of its lecturers caught the BBC’s controversial undercover documentary ‘Sex for Grades’.
The two: Prof. Ransford Gyampo and Dr. Paul Butakor have been handed six and four months suspension without pay respectively, with the punishment starting from January 1, 2020.
In addition to the suspension, the two would be taking through a training on how not to be sexual predators: “In addition, Prof. Gyampo and Dr. Butakor are required to undergo appropriate training on the University of Ghana’s Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy as well as the Code of Conduct for Academic Staff of the University of Ghana.
“They will be required to receive a positive assessment after the training before resumption of their duties. They are also required to undergo annual assessment for a period of 5 years,” a statement from the university said.
However, on November 20, 2019, the university, in a statement, said the two lecturers had been referred to the disciplinary committee, after which the six-member fact-finding committee said there was no evidence from the BBC documentary proving any act of sexual misconduct on the part of the lecturers.
“The committee notes that neither the documentary nor the BBC has provided any evidence to demonstrate that the affected lecturers demanded sex in exchange for grades, as asserted by the title of the documentary: ‘Sex for grades’,” the report stated.
The two lecturers proceeded to resume work normally, until the latest shock suspension.
Professor Gyampo, who is also the Head of European Studies at the university was captured in an Africa-wide undercover BBC report to expose the notorious ring of university lecturers who harass or solicit female students for sex in return for high academic scores.
According to the BBC report, Professor Gyampo lured a BBC reporter posing as a female student seeking academic favours, to an unnamed shopping mall Casanova-style, and sweet-talk the lady, including promising to marry her.
In excerpts of the video released on BBC Somalia’s Facebook page, Professor Gyampo persuaded the reporter to meet him at the mall where he was caught on camera making “numerous [alleged] inappropriate demands.”
In the report, he also allegedly requested to kiss the reporter while quizzing her if she has ever been “violently kissed before”.
In another scene, Dr. Bukator was seen begging a supposed student to be her “side-man” as the lady already had a lover.
BBC Africa Eye sent their team of undercover journalists posing as students inside the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana, where the disturbing trend of sex-for-grades were exposed.