I disagree with GTEC's position that no one has the right to use an honorary doctorate title as it were.
It is my considered opinion that it is purely at the discretion of the awardee whether to use it or not, and also as regulated by the awarding university.
The only condition attached to its use is that an awardee who chooses to use it when writing his/her name has to add the words "honoris causa" (h.c.) at the end of the name in order to differentiate it from an academic PhD or DBA for business doctorate degrees.
If what GTEC is saying is the case, why was Dr Kwame Nkrumah (h.c) known and recognised as such all over the world, including the GTEC, until now?
All six doctorate degrees awarded by six different universities to President Kwame Nkrumah were all honorary and he chose to use the honours deservingly earned as such.
Dr Kwame Nkrumah (h.c.), in his lifetime, started a PhD programme, but didn't complete it and left the shores of the USA for Ghana to become the General Secretary of the then UGCC.
In Ghana, apart from Dr Kwame Nkrumah (h.c..), I can name more than 20 famous Ghanaians who are recognised and continue to use the title "Dr (h.c.)" and the GTEC has not complained about it. That, to me, is very discriminatory.
Besides, it is my considered opinion that GTEC doesn't have the locus to decide the conditions for use of any type of degree awarded by a particular university.
It is only the awarding university that has the right to regulate and prescribe how to use the degree and not any outsider.
It is also, in fact, a mis-education for any institution or individual to argue and postulate that an honorary doctorate is not a doctorate.
The object of the two-word phrase is the "Doctorate" and the adjective is "Honorary" or "Academic", which describes what type of doctorate it is.
It is obvious, without any shred of doubt, that we are talking about two types of doctorate degrees, i.e. academic and honorary.
It, therefore, smacks of intellectual dishonesty for any individual or Institution to say that one type is not a doctorate degree.
How is that possible, if I may ask?
If it is not an honorary doctorate degree, then what is it? Is it an honorary bachelor's or an honorary master's degree?
It is obvious that they are both doctorate degrees and could be awarded by any autonomous or chartered and accredited university after approval by its Academic Board or Senate, in the same way an academic doctorate degree is conferred on recipients.
It is also my considered opinion that any attempt by GTEC to regulate the use of degrees awarded by autonomous and duly accredited universities will amount to an undue interference in the academic freedoms of the institutions involved.
I believe that the right course of action GTEC must take is to insist that awardees of honorary doctorate degrees must strictly go by the conditions of use i.e. adding honoris causa (h.c.) to the "Dr" as prescribed by the awarding university in order not to create the wrong impression that it is an academic doctorate degree.
The question that GTEC must answer is, if you present a gift to a person or you bestow an honour on a person and you proceed to ban the recipient from deriving any benefit from the gift or honour, what will be the value of that gift or honour in the first place?
Also very confusing in GTEC's statement is the fact that it says awardees must not use it in public, which then presupposes that it can be used elsewhere, when not in public, so which is which?
Another issue that needs to be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction is whether an Act of Law can be applied retrospectively.
If you pass a law in 2020 and an awardee received his or her honours before 2020, can you apply the law to include those who had theirs before 2020?
For emphasis, an honorary doctorate degree is awarded for an exemplary achievement, while an academic doctorate degree is awarded for an academic pursuit; both are doctorate degrees.
They are both awarded by autonomous and duly accredited universities during congregations, except that the conditions for use of the titles are different.
Kwame Antwi-Boasiako Dr (h.c.).
E-mail: kwameantwiboasiako959@gmail.com
