Personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, in collaboration with officials from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), on Wednesday arrested two officials of the Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine Study Centre in Ashaiman, Greater Accra Region, for operating unaccredited programmes and running an unaccredited institution.
The arrests followed the failure of the institution to provide accreditation documents for its programmes and operations during an inspection. The two officials taken into custody were Ademan Tetteh, a director of the college, and Christiana Akpaloo, the Registrar. The third director, Raphael Nyarkotey Obu, who manages the institute’s daily operations, was unavailable, as was another director, Daniel Tetteh Boafo.
The arrests form part of a nationwide crackdown on institutions running unaccredited programmes and individuals misusing honorary academic titles, particularly “professor”.
According to GTEC, the Nyarkotey College runs a range of unaccredited certificate, diploma, and degree programmes, including four-year BTech degrees, Mini MBA programmes, and HND qualifications—raising serious concerns about academic quality and public deception.
CID officers conducting the search also found an award shield presented to Mr. Obu by a Ukrainian university—Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University—conferring on him an honorary professorship. Mr. Obu has reportedly used the “Professor” title ever since. Mr. Tetteh also revealed he holds an honorary doctorate from a Nigerian institution, though he could not recall the name.
Speaking to the press, GTEC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Jerry Sarfo, stressed that the Commission was acting to enforce compliance after numerous warnings went unheeded. “There have been persistent calls for people to desist from running unaccredited programmes, and yet they keep doing it,” he said.
He confirmed that both the director and the registrar were arrested for further questioning and indicated that Mr. Obu is expected to meet GTEC leadership soon over his title and involvement in the institution’s operations.
GTEC warns NDC Central Regional Chairman over fake title
In a related development, GTEC has issued a formal warning to Richard Kofi Asiedu, the Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), over his continued use of the title “Professor”, despite the Commission’s earlier directive to desist.
A letter dated July 28, 2025, and signed by GTEC Director-General Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, accused Mr. Asiedu of breaching Section 8(4)(d) of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1023), which regulates the use of academic titles.
GTEC revealed that Mr. Asiedu had previously been directed to remove the title from official records, websites, and publications, and to submit documentation for verification. However, he was recently billed as “Prof. Richard Kofi Asiedu” in a promotional poster for the EELL 2025 Conference, prompting the latest warning.
The Commission has called on the NDC’s national leadership to ensure compliance, warning that failure to do so could result in legal action. GTEC emphasised that the move was not politically motivated, but aimed at safeguarding the integrity of academic titles in Ghana.
The letter was copied to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, the NDC General Secretary, and Mr. Asiedu himself.
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