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Prof Abdulai Jinapor, the Director General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, has told the Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Grace Ayensu Danquah, to fire her lawyers.
The GTEC boss emphasised that Dr Grace Ayensu Danquah’s lawyers are not being helpful to her cause.
According to the GTEC boss, the deputy minister and her legal team are being inconsistent about her academic credentials.
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.
Speaking on Joy FM interview on Monday, August 18, 2025, Prof Abdulai Jinapor stated, “Two weeks to respond to her demand? That she is a full professor, an assistant professor, or an adjunct assistant professor? Which is which? As I have indicated, the lawyers have not been helpful to her cause, and if I am advising her, I think the lawyers need to be fired”.
“The Honourable Deputy Minister of Health, an MP, said on national TV that she is a full professor from the University of Utah, Department of Surgery. That is a statement of fact,” Prof Jinapor stated.
He added, “Her lawyers wrote to GTEC and indicated that she is an assistant professor at Utah. The University of Utah wrote to GTEC and indicated that she is an adjunct assistant professor”.
Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah has replied to the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof Ahmed Jinapor, over her ‘Professor’ title.
She noted that GTEC wants to discredit the hard work she has done.
Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah further quizzed GTEC on whether they are going to settle the ‘Professor’ title on social media.
Speaking in an interview on CTV on Monday, August 18, 2025, Dr Ayensu-Danquah questioned, “My question is, as a state regulator, are we going to settle the matter on social media? Should we be talking about the matter on social media? As a regulator, shouldn’t you be going through due process?
“So, what I see is just an attempt to discredit the hard work I have done… I’m still trying to figure it out. So, I want Honourable Jinapor to bring his CV for us to compare,” she said.
She further reiterated, “I earned my professor of surgery title long ago. I have a campus in Utah, where I head the global surgery department. But I prefer to be here to help my people; that is why I’m here, that is why I’m not in the classroom every day.
“But even still, I have a residency programme that I manage here in Ghana. I’m doing public research in Ghana, including breast cancer research, quality assurance and quality improvement for surgical care in Ghana. So, the issue is strange to me,” she added.
Meanwhile, on May 30, 2025, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission warned against the abuse of titles like Doctor and Professor by people without documented credentials.