The University of Ghana has handed a six-month suspension without pay to Professor Ransford Yaw Gyampo for misconducting himself in a BBC investigative documentary, Sex For Grades.
Dr Paul Butakor, who was also captured in the documentary trying to woo an investigative reporter who posed as someone seeking a national service at his Department has also been suspended for four months without pay.
Their suspension takes effect from January 1, 2020, the University of Ghana announced in a statement Monday.
Also, the two senior lecturers are to undergo appropriate training on the University of Ghana’s Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy as well as the Code of Conduct for Academic Staff.
“They will be required to receive a positive assessment after the training before resumption of their duties. They are required to undergo annual assessment for a period of five years,” it added.
After gathering dozens of testimonies, BBC Africa Eye sent undercover journalists posing as students inside the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana. Female reporters were sexually harassed, propositioned and put under pressure by senior lecturers at the institutions – all the while wearing secret cameras.
In its documentary released in October 2019 after the undercover investigations, Dr Gyampo who is a political scientist, was captured on tape proposing marriage to an undercover female journalist posing as a student of the University.
The Associate professor, who heads the Centre for European Studies at the University of Ghana, was said to have agreed to be the mentor of the lady, who unknown to him, was investigating allegations of sexual harassment against him.
According to the BBC, Prof Gyampo after few weeks, called the lady on phone and asked her to meet with him at his home, but the lady managed “to persuade him to meet at a mall instead”.
“Throughout this meeting, he made numerous inappropriate remarks. He also asked her to marry him. He then said he wanted to kiss her,” the BBC narrated in the documentary that reignited the issue of sexual harassment of students by their lecturers.
But Prof Gyampo who has been vocal on matters of national interest has since denied the allegation.
The two were interdicted and a fact-finding committee was subsequently constituted to investigate the allegations against them. The Committee in its report said it “found prima facie evidence of breaches of the University’s Code of Conduct and Statutes, as amended”.
It thus recommended that the matter be brought before the University’s Disciplinary Committee for the necessary action.
A statement issued by the University on Febraury 17 and signed by its Director of Public Affairs Stella Amoa, said the University of Ghana has accepted the recommendation of the Displinary Committee.
It assured students, staff and faculty of the university as well as stakeholders of its commitment to rooting out any acts of misconduct, sexual harassment or any other form of harassment and that it will not tolerate any such acts among students and employees of the university
By 3news.com|Ghana