UCC Pro-VC directed to step in to act following confusion over Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nyarko Boampong's retirement age
Following the confusion at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) regarding the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong's contract extension and developments in relation to his retirement age, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has directed that the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Denis Worlanyo Aheto, should step in to act in the interim.
GTEC has also requested that the Governing Council of the university postpone the appointment of a substantive Vice-Chancellor until the conclusion of a high court case regarding the retirement age of Prof. Nyarko Boampong and the contract extension.
The move by GTEC follows information that Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong was still in office as Vice-Chancellor of the university post the compulsory retirement age of sixty (60) years, contrary to the provisions of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
In a letter Graphic Online has seen, dated September 19, 2025, signed by the Acting Deputy Director-General of GTEC, Prof Augustine Ocloo on behalf of the Director-General, addressed to Prof Boampong and copied to eight other people including the Minister of Education, the Chancellor and the Chairman of the UCC Governing Council, GTEC indicated that Article 199 (1) of the constitution states that, "A public officer shall, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, retire from the public service on attaining the age of sixty years."
It stated, "again, the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, being an office established under Section 7(1) of the University of Cape Coast Act, 1992 (PNDCL 278) is a public office under the meaning and intendment of Article 199(1), hence anyone acting in the office of the Vice-Chancellor is presumptively mandated to proceed on compulsory retirement upon attaining 60 years."
Regarding the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor, it said Statute 8.2 of the University of Cape Coast Statutes 2016 states that: "The Vice-Chancellor shall hold office for an initial term of four years. The appointment may be renewed for a further term of up to three years if that is not beyond the statutory retiring age of 60."
It went further to indicate that "stemming from the above stated laws, and with the Commission's regulatory mandate enshrined in section 7 of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Denis Worlanyo Aheto is to act in the interim.
It said the Commission was minded by a suit at the High Court, Cape Coast, surrounding the issue, and therefore added that due to the pending suit, the Chairman of the Governing Council of UCC should stay action on the appointment of a substantive Vice-Chancellor until final determination of the case at the High Court in Cape Coast.
The confusion at the UCC started in July 2024 over the Vice-Chancellor's contract and that of the Registrar.
Appointed for a four-year term in June 2020, Prof Nyarko Boampong's first four-year tenure as Vice Chancellor of UCC started on August 1, 2020 and ended July 31, 2024.
On July 28, 2023, the university's Governing Council renewed and extended Prof Nyarko Boampong's appointment as Vice-Chancellor at the Council's meeting, for a term of two years, effective August 1, 2024, to July 31, 2026.
Governing Council chairman Prof H. S. Amonoo-Kuofi's letter
However, in a letter dated Wednesday, July 31, 2024, signed by Prof Harold S. Amonoo-Kuofi as Chairman of Council, he stated that the renewal or extension "is void and consequently the same is revoked as it breaches the University's Statutes on renewal of appointment of the Vice-Chancellor."
The reason given by the Council Chair was that Prof Boampong was going to attain the age of 60 in 2025 and will therefore not be able to complete his two year tenure before he attains the compulsory retirement age of 60 on September 18, 2025.
Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh
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