The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the Ho Technical University is said to still be at post despite some reports from a section of the media that the Minister of Education had revoked his appointment.
The Herald newspaper in its 13th February Edition reported that the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh had revoked the appointment of Prof. Ben Honyenuga.
According to the report, the Minister had caused the abrogation of Prof. Honyenuga’s appointment pursuant to a pending investigation into the authenticity of his PhD which he procured from the Open University of the Netherlands.
But in a press release by the Registrar of the University, no notice of revocation of appointment has been served the school’s governing council or the schools management.
“We wish to state for the information of the University Community, alumni and the general public that neither Council nor the Management of Ho Technical University has been served notice of revocation of the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor for the University.”
The statement also indicated that two members of the faculty had petitioned the National Accreditation Board and the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations for a probe into the authenticity of Honyenuga’s PhD, a matter the statement says has been resolved.
“The University has on record, a call for a probe into the authenticity of Professor Honyenuga’s doctorate degree from two faculty members of the University, Dr. Richard S. Akplotsyi and Dr. Cephas Bosrotsi, a matter the National Accreditation-Board, the responsible agency for authenticating qualifications, has dealt with and informed the University and the petitioners.”
“A letter dated December 13, 2018, to the University and signed by the Ag. Executive Secretary of the NAB, on the subject ‘Evaluation of Certificate, Ben Quarshie Honyenuga’, stated as follows: This is to certify that the Doctor of Philosophy awarded to Ben Honyenuga by Open University of The Netherlands, is comparable to a Doctorate (PhD), in the relevant subject area, awarded by a recognized tertiary institution in Ghana”.
In another letter to the petitioners, the NAB stated as follows: “We wish to inform you that the Open University of the Netherlands has been duly accredited in its home country and that, the certificate awarded to Mr. Ben Q. Honyenuga is authentic and comparable to doctoral degrees in the relevant subject area awarded by recognized tertiary institutions in Ghana. This qualifies Mr. Ben Q. Honyenuga to prefix his name with the title ‘Dr’.”
Describing the publication as a “falsehood”, Dr. Amehoe noted that such publications are the handiworks of “Institutional Non-Conformists” and rebels seeking to tarnish the image of the University.
“It has, therefore, come to the University as a surprise that The HERALD Newspaper could publish such falsehood and to state that “it was as a result of the brouhaha surrounding Mr. Honyenuga’s PhD that has led to the Minister abrogating his (Mr. Honyenuga) appointment as the new VC pending investigation”.
“The University wishes to assure students, staff, alumni and the general public to disregard the publication in the Herald newspaper which could best be described as the handiwork of persons who have for some time now prided themselves as institutional non-conformists and rebels, seeking to tarnish the hard-won reputation of Ho Technical University”.
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By: Benjamin Aklama | citinewsroom.com | bkaklama@gmail.com | Ghana
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