The Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM-USA) has demanded an immediate retraction and public apology from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) after it was allegedly included in a list of unrecognised universities.

In a statement, GAFM said its inclusion in the publication by some media platforms, which sourced the information from GTEC, was erroneous and had caused reputational damage to the organisation.

GAFM maintained that it is not a university, has never operated as one and does not award academic degrees, describing itself instead as an international professional body that provides specialised industry certifications.

“We state categorically that GAFM is not a university, has never operated as a university, and does not award academic degrees,” the organisation said.

The professional body said it had, for decades, trained thousands of professionals across several countries and issued certifications recognised by corporate employers and regulatory bodies in more than 150 countries.

GAFM further accused GTEC of failing to distinguish between a professional certification body and an academic university.

“GTEC's clear inability to distinguish a professional certification body from an academic university is a demonstration of institutional incompetence and recklessness,” the statement said, accusing the Commission of publishing the list without proper verification.

According to GAFM, GTEC's mandate is to accredit tertiary institutions and tertiary-level academic programmes, while its professional certification programmes are industry-based and therefore fall outside the Commission's regulatory jurisdiction.

However, the organisation said it was prepared to subject itself to any regulations, frameworks or oversight protocols formally established by GTEC for professional bodies.

GAFM said it welcomed “constructive, lawful regulation” but rejected what it described as defamatory labelling.

The organisation has consequently demanded an immediate and unconditional retraction of the publication and a public apology from GTEC.

It warned that its legal team had been instructed to initiate legal proceedings against the Commission for defamation, corporate injury and administrative negligence if a retraction and apology were not issued within 14 working days of the statement.

GAFM also urged its members, fellows and certificate holders in Ghana to remain calm, assuring them that its leadership was pursuing legal, diplomatic and administrative channels to resolve the matter.

“The Board is actively deploying all available legal, diplomatic, and administrative channels to resolve these regulatory issues swiftly and permanently,” it said.