The Bono Regional Director of the Department of Children, George Yaw Ankamah has said the decision by the Management of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to engage incarcerated Dr. Ali Sulley Gabass as one of the facilitators for its distance learning programme at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison is unfortunate.

He described it as an attack on the hard-earned reputation of the Institution.

Mr. Ankamah, who is also an alumnus of the University remarked on Tuesday on Sunyani-based radio, Suncity 97.1 FM’S Morning show, dubbed “Suncity Morning Drive".

He wondered why a University that prides itself on high ethical and moral standards will compromise its integrity and engage the services of someone who has committed a crime of that magnitude.

He said Ghana was the first country to rectify the UN Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC) in 1989 and therefore behooves all state institutions, including UCC, to adhere to all state protocols on Children.

“Dr. Ali Gabass is a threat to Children on any day, and for UCC to engage his services as a facilitator means, they validate any abuse on our Children,” he said.

He argued that there are more qualified graduates looking for that opportunity to nurture students and see no justification for UCC to engage someone who sodomized a 16-year-old boy as a facilitator.

On the same radio program, Mr. Amponsah Tabiri, a Dental Surgeon Assistant with the Bono Regional Hospital in Sunyani, who contributed via WhatsApp did not take it lightly with the University Management and wondered why someone who sodomized a minor would be offered such an opportunity to even go near students.

“Sex offenders shouldn’t have the right to work for UCC no matter their knowledge, especially at the time the country is battling LGBTQ issues. I’m not against the reintegration of prisoners but a Man who had sodomized underage boy should not be allowed to get closer to students,” He lamented.

Dr. Ali Gabass who is currently serving a 25-year jail term for sodomizing a 16-year-old boy was a medical doctor at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in the Western Region.

He is now playing a key role in a novel project by the UCC to allow convicts to acquire a diploma.