GTEC crackdown on unaccredited institutions: 2 Officials arrested at Nyarkotey College

Personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in the company of officials of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) last Wednesday picked up two officials from the Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine Study Centre in Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region for running unaccredited programmes and operating an unaccredited centre.

After waiting in vain for the arrival of one of the directors, Raphael Nyarkotey Obu, who does the day to day running of the Institute, and the inability of the authorities present to provide proof of accreditation of both programmes and institution, the CID officials had to pick up the two.

Those picked up were one of the directors of the Institute, Ademan Tetteh, and the Registrar of the institute, Christiana Akpaloo. The other director, Daniel Tetteh Boafo, who is said to be a farmer, was not also available.

The two were arrested to assist the police in a nationwide ongoing investigation on individuals who run unaccredited tertiary institutions and programmes as well as those who continue to use honorary professor as a title.

Programmes offered

The Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine Study Centre runs programmes in certificates, diploma and degree programmes such as four-year BTech programmes, Mini MBA programme, three-year HND programmes, professional diploma programmes, national proficiency one and two among others.

A search by the CID personnel found and award shield, which was presented to Mr Obu as an honorary professor by Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University in Ukraine, based on which he had since used the title Professor.

Mr Tetteh, who was picked up at the institute, also said he had an honorary doctorate conferred on him by a Nigerian institution, the name of which he could not immediately remember.

Last week, GTEC hinted its intention to begin arresting individuals who continued to use honorary professor as a title.

Unaccredited programmes

Addressing journalists after the arrest, the Director for Corporate Affairs at GTEC, Jerry Sarfo, said the exercise was “something we’re undertaking because there have been persistent calls for people to desist from running unaccredited programmes, and yet they keep doing it.

So there was the need for us to actually enforce compliance.”

He stressed that the Commission frowned on institutions running unaccredited programmes, and that was what the Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine Study Centre was doing.

Mr Sarfo explained that the team visited the institution to have a firsthand information of what was going on, “and we have actually had interactions with the director who happens to be one of the three directors here.”

He added that the registrar was also picked up because she was a management member, “and we are going to actually have further interactions with them at the police station.”

Touching on the professorship of Mr Obu, he said that needed to be interrogated further because it was evident that it was an honorary one.

Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that Mr Obu is expected to meet the management of  GTEC tomorrow over the continuous use of his professor title as well as his role in the running of the institution.

Honorary professorship

In a related development, GTEC has issued a warning to Richard Kofi Asiedu, the Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), over the unauthorised use of his honorary professor title.

In a letter dated July 28, 2025, which was sighted by the Daily Graphic, GTEC accused Mr Asiedu of defying its earlier directives to cease the practice, describing it as “unethical” and a violation of national law.

The Commission revealed that it had earlier written to Mr Asiedu on June 2, 2025, demanding proof of the removal of the title from all official records, including institutional profiles, websites and letterheads.

He was also instructed to submit his highest academic qualification for verification.

However, GTEC noted with deep concern that Mr Asiedu had persisted in using the title as evidenced in a recent EELL 2025 Conference promotional poster, where he was billed as “Prof. Richard Kofi Asiedu.”

Citing Section 8(4)(d) of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1023), the GTEC emphasised its mandate to regulate use of academic titles, including “Professor,” and warned that failure to comply could lead to legal action.

The letter, signed by Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, Director-General of GTEC, urged the NDC’s National Chairman to intervene, stating: “The Commission respectfully appeals to you to ensure that Mr Asiedu complies fully with the directives issued. Should he persist, the Commission may be compelled to initiate legal proceedings.”

The GTEC clarified that its action was not politically motivated but aimed at upholding the integrity of academic titles.

The letter was copied to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, the NDC’s General Secretary and Mr Asiedu himself.