The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology branch (UTAG-KNUST), has thrown its support behind calls for the removal of the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

In a statement issued on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, following an executive emergency meeting held a day earlier, UTAG-KNUST said it had resolved to align itself fully with the recent press release by the national leadership of UTAG demanding the removal of Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, Director-General of GTEC, and his deputy.

UTAG-KNUST accused the GTEC leadership of creating excesses that have undermined harmony within the tertiary education system and urged President John Mahama to remove the Director-General and his Deputy, describing them as incompetent and incapable of restoring confidence in the Commission.

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“We urge the duo, the Director-General and his Deputy, to do the needful by resigning their respective positions by January 31, before UTAG advises itself,” the statement signed by Prof. Eric K. K. Abavare, President of UTAG-KNUST, and Prof. Akwasi Afrifa Agyemang, Secretary of the association warned.

According to the association, "the leadership of GTEC has failed in its core mandate of ensuring quality education delivery across Ghana’s public universities."

"The Commission has now become a tool for personal vindictiveness and, instead of ensuring that the requisite norms espoused by the Commission are improved, the D-G and his deputy continue to preside over its deterioration without any effort to improve it," portions of the statement read.

UTAG-KNUST said a cursory visit to laboratories and lecture theatres in several institutions revealed deteriorating conditions that require urgent renovation, retooling and expansion.

The association further criticised the handling of critical administrative matters by GTEC, including worsening student-lecturer ratios and the management of post-retirement contracts and office-holding extensions, which it said had created confusion and unnecessary tension on university campuses.

According to UTAG-KNUST, lecturers who retired in the middle of the academic year have been unable to leave their posts because replacements had not been recruited, while the Commission had failed to clearly define policies on post-retirement contracts and the employment status of affected senior members.

The association also expressed concern over the lack of clear directives to Finance Directors at various campuses regarding the removal of retired lecturers from payroll systems, saying the uncertainty had left university administrators helpless.