Is Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo indeed a full Professor?
In a startling revelation, this portal has uncovered alleged irregularities surrounding the promotion of Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), from the rank of Associate Professor to a full Professor.
This follows the alleged distasteful comments that he has made regarding the book and research allowance at a public lecture organised by the SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, which have since received severe backlash from the national executives of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and other well-meaning members of the union across all university campuses.
This portal chanced on a report by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) (now Ghana Tertiary Education Commission – GTEC), dated April 17, 2020, with the heading, “STAFF AUDIT OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND SPECIALISED INSTITUTIONS” which was addressed to the then Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).
In the said report, Prof. Kwansah-Aidoo was an Associate Professor (see image attached). Indeed, all the documents available in the university as of the period of this investigation show that he was appointed to the erstwhile GIJ in 2018 from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia as an Associate Professor. Since the April 17, 2020 NCTE report, there has not been any full professor promotion in the university, nor was there any inaugural lecture which is traditionally characteristic of full professor appointments in all public universities in Ghana (even though not compulsory). None of the senior members of the university this portal spoke to know of any official document showing a proper assessment of his publications, discussion of assessment reports at a University Council meeting or the announcement of the same, even though every promotion in the university is officially announced to the entire university community through emails and other internal communication mediums.
The only reasonable conclusion is that his promotion to the rank of a full professor may have occurred through questionable means, raising concerns about the authenticity of his claims as a full professor in the university. On the basis of the surprising and blatant absence of documented evidence outlining the process and criteria leading to Professor Kwansah-Aidoo's promotion, the current university council led by the venerable Prof. Kwesi Yankah should investigate this urgent matter and take the necessary steps to remedy the situation and redeem the enviable reputation of the university that has been a subject of controversies in the past days.
Download the 2020 GTEC report here
Download PDF: [27202463224-1h830n4aau-ncte--staff-audit-report.pdf]