Chairperson of the anti-sexual harassment committee of the University of Ghana (UG), Dr. Margaret Amoakohene has refuted allegations made against some lecturers of the institution cited in the BBC Africa Eye documentary, saying that there is no evidence that shows that they slept with the students to give them better grades.
Two of the university’s profound lecturers, a Political Science lecturer, Prof. Ransford Gyampo and a lecturer at the College of Education, Dr. Paul Kwame Butakor were indicted in the ‘Sex for Grades’ exposé.
Speaking to Citi News, Dr. Amoakohene stated that although she sides with the fact that it is a misconduct among those lecturers and thereby calls for further investigations, she disagrees with the “sex for grades” tag.
“If you look at the transcript that they added, there is no evidence of sex for grade. I agree that the lecturers misbehaved and so you will discuss these as unacceptable behaviours that should be investigated but there was no indication of sex for grades. In one case, it was about the national service placement. Who needs grades at national service? She completed and she was looking for placement,” she said.
She continued by saying: “In the other case according to the transcript, the lady approached him [Prof. Gyampo] and said she wanted him to be a mentor. She actually confirmed she wasn’t his student but asked that he mentors her. So where is the grade involved in this? You are able to discuss grades and sex when you find a lecturer who is dating his own students, and either unnecessarily giving them grades that they don’t deserve or marking them down because they have refused your advances. But in the two cases that are cited, I don’t see sex for grades.”
The BBC Africa Eye released a documentary on Monday which centered on cases of sexual harassment by lecturers in tertiary institutions.
To achieve this, the BBC sent undercover journalists posing as students inside the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana, Legon.
The bulk of the excerpt released spent time in the University of Lagos and one of its lecturers Professor Boniface Igbeneghu’s alleged attempts to proposition a student seeking admission into the school.
Meanwhile, the lecturers indicted at University of Ghana have denied the allegations made against them, with Prof Gyampo threatening to sue the BBC for defamation.
UG SRC
President of the UG SRC, Isaac Agyemang has also advised students who may have fallen victims to such demands from lecturers to co-operate with any interrogation that may come if the need arises.
“As it stands now, these are allegations that have come up. Until they are proven guilty our remarks will be speculative. But all these people captured in the video will duly be investigated within the remits of the University of Ghana [rules]. Our fingers are crossed as an SRC so any student who has been a victim shouldn’t shy away from the SRC.”
They also called for appropriate sanctions for the two lecturers if found culpable.
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