Accra, Ghana — January 29, 2026
Ghana’s tertiary education regulator is facing its most serious credibility crisis in decades, as new allegations accuse the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) of shielding an unaccredited foreign institution, validating fake degrees, and concealing a completed audit that should have shut down an entire academic operation.
The explosive claims, released by the Governance, Accountability and Transparency Forum (GATF), paint a picture of a regulator that has abandoned its mandate and instead manufactures legality for favored institutions while cracking down on others for show.
At the center of the scandal is CASS European Institute of Advanced Studies (CASS Europe), a private entity that GATF says has no legal authority anywhere in Europe to award Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degrees—yet has been allowed to operate freely in Ghana under the watch of GTEC Director‑General Dr. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai.
A Regulator That Enforces the Law Only When It Wants To
For years, GTEC has published lists of unaccredited institutions.
CASS Europe has never appeared on any of them.
GATF argues this is not an oversight but a deliberate act of protection, pointing to a network of individuals with close ties to GTEC leadership who allegedly benefited from CASS Europe’s questionable programmes.
The dossier describes a regulator that:
- Punishes the weak
- Protects the connected
- Uses enforcement as theatre
- And buries evidence when the truth becomes inconvenient
Degrees Without Rigor, Professors Without Credentials
The allegations against CASS Europe’s academic practices are damning.
According to GATF:
- Supervisors handled theses across unrelated fields — from health sciences to ICT to finance — violating every known academic standard
- A single individual served as programme coordinator, doctoral chair, supervisor, and student in the same programme
- PhD students supervised other PhD students
- Individuals with no PhD were supervising doctoral candidates
- Staff who were junior lecturers in Ghana held professorial titles at CASS Europe
The dossier describes CASS Europe as an “easy‑pass degree factory” whose products have infiltrated Ghana’s public universities, rising to senior positions on the strength of qualifications that would not be recognized in France, Luxembourg, the UK, or any jurisdiction CASS Europe has claimed over the years.
The French Accreditation Lie
CASS Europe’s website displays a Qualiopi certificate, which GATF says is being misrepresented as academic accreditation.
In reality:
- Qualiopi certifies training quality, not degree‑awarding authority
- It falls under the French Labour Code, not the Higher Education Code
- It does not authorize any institution to award Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degrees
Under French law:
- Only the state can accredit degree‑awarding institutions
- Private institutions cannot independently issue academic degrees
- All recognized PhDs must be awarded through public doctoral schools
GATF concludes that CASS Europe’s degrees are not legally recognized academic qualifications anywhere in Europe.
The Buried Audit: The Smoking Gun
The most explosive allegation is that GTEC completed an audit of the local institution delivering CASS Europe programmes — and then buried the report.
The audit, led by Prof. Augustine Ocloo, was allegedly finalized but never published, never enforced, and never disclosed to the public, Parliament, or stakeholders.
GATF calls this “regulatory suppression,” arguing that:
- A completed audit must be published
- A completed audit must trigger enforcement
- A completed audit cannot be hidden
By burying the audit, GATF says, GTEC crossed the line from regulatory negligence into regulatory collusion.
A System Compromised from Within
The consequences of GTEC’s alleged inaction are far‑reaching:
- Students unknowingly obtained invalid qualifications
- Public universities hired and promoted staff based on unrecognized degrees
- Supervisory and examination roles were filled by individuals without legitimate credentials
- Ghana’s international academic credibility was damaged
- Parliament and the public were misled
“This is not a CASS Europe scandal,” GATF states. “This is a GTEC leadership scandal.”
Demands for Immediate Dismissals and Criminal Investigations
GATF is calling for sweeping action, including:
- Immediate dismissal of Dr. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai and implicated GTEC officials
- Immediate publication of the buried audit
- Suspension of individuals holding invalid qualifications
- A forensic review of all appointments and promotions linked to CASS Europe degrees
- Legal and administrative sanctions against institutions and officials involved
- Referral to the Attorney‑General and anti‑corruption bodies for possible misfeasance in public office
The group warns that if authorities fail to act, it will release additional evidence, including internal records and international correspondence.
A Crisis of Trust
GATF’s statement ends with a stark warning:
“No sovereign education system can survive when foreign certificates are laundered into degrees. No regulator can be trusted that hides audits. Regulation is a duty , not a performance.”
The release is signed by Prof. Eric K. K. Abavare, President of UTAG‑KNUST, and Prof. Akwasi Afrifa Acheampong, Secretary of the branch.
See details in the PDF attached:
