 if she were Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah){kind=link}
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a private legal practitioner and social activist, has said that he would have sued the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) if she were Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, the Deputy Minister of Health.
Vormawor noted that nowhere in the laws of Ghana empower the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to sit in judgment on professorial titles.
According to Vormawor, GTEC is supposed to be the guardian of academic quality and standards in this country; instead, GTEC has become the subject of controversy for claiming the power to decide who can or cannot use the title “Professor”.
Vormawor boldly declared that he will gladly be Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah’s lawyer if she decides to sue GTEC.
In a post on X Vormawor wrote, “The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission is supposed to be the guardian of academic quality and standards in this country. Instead, it has become the subject of controversy for claiming the power to decide who can or cannot use the title ‘Professor.’
“This is deeply problematic. GTEC’s mandate under the Education Regulatory Bodies Act is straightforward: regulate tertiary institutions, monitor academic standards, and verify certificates and degrees when formally requested,” he wrote.
He further added, “Nowhere does the law empower it to sit in judgment on professorial titles, especially when those titles are conferred by universities outside Ghana. And for good reason.
“At the heart of this debate is a very simple truth: there is no single international system for comparing professorships. In the United States, both tenure-track and non-tenure-track appointments are addressed as ‘Professor.’ In the UK, ‘Professor’ is reserved for the most senior appointments. In France or South Africa, the terminology differs again. These are local traditions, not global rules. To suggest that GTEC can apply a universal test is not just wrong, it misinforms the public”.
Vormawor further detailed, “It is one thing to have never been appointed a professor at all. But it is entirely different, and dangerous, for a regulator to pretend that an international standard exists when it does not. Even within the same country, the distinction between tenure-track and non-tenure-track has nothing to do with whether a person is addressed as ‘Professor.’ GTEC’s claim to the contrary is uninformed”.
He further challenges anyone to find any guidelines, regulations or standards that GTEC claims to be applying here.
“If I was Prof. Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, i would sue them. In fact, I will gladly be her lawyer.
I detest academic dishonesty. You can’t claim to be checking academic dishonesty, while being neck deep in one. To pretend there is a universal standard for professorships, and to pass off that pretence as official regulation, is academic dishonesty of the highest order”, he added.
His comments come after the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has said Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, the Deputy Minister of Health, does not hold the title of a professor.
GTEC has warned Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah against presenting herself as a professor.
According to GTEC, Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, despite her claims, was never appointed as an Assistant Professor of Surgery by the University of Utah in the United States.
GTEC, in a letter addressed to the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, requested Dr Ayensu-Danquah to provide documentary proof of her professorial appointment by August 11, 2025.
According to the deputy minister legal team responded and insisted she was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah in the United States.
The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission further revealed that documents submitted by Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah’s legal team were inconsistent.
GTEC added that a letter from the University of Utah, signed by Prof. W. Bradford Rockwell, Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Surgery, clarified that Dr. Ayensu-Danquah was appointed as an Adjunct Assistant Professor and not Assistant Professor.
According to GTEC, the role of Adjunct Assistant Professor is a non-tenure track position which equates to a part-time lecturer under Ghana’s academic framework and not a senior lecturer, and certainly not a professor.
GTEC letter boldly stated, “Based on the above, the Commission concludes that Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah does not hold the title of Professor in any capacity”.
They further warn the deputy of presenting herself as a professor otherwise, legal action on grounds of public deception will be initiated against her.
See the post below:
Let’s Talk GTEC.
— Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor (@barkervogues) August 17, 2025
1. Over these past few days, GTEC has been in the news for the most strange reasons
2. The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission is supposed to be the guardian of academic quality and standards in this country. Instead, it has become the subject of controversy…