GTEC orders UCC Vice-Chancellor to vacate office after retirement age of 60

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has ordered Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong to step down as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), citing his continued stay in office beyond the mandatory retirement age of 60.

In a letter dated Friday, September 19, 2025, GTEC said Prof. Boampong’s continued occupancy of the position contravenes Article 199(1) of the 1992 Constitution, which requires public officers to retire at age 60 unless otherwise permitted.

“The Office of the Vice-Chancellor, being an office established under Section 7(1) of the University of Cape Coast Act, 1992 (PNDCL 278), is a public office under the meaning and intendment of Article 199(1). Hence, anyone acting in the office of the Vice-Chancellor is presumptively mandated to proceed on compulsory retirement upon attaining 60 years,” the letter stressed.

The Commission also referred to the University of Cape Coast Statutes (2016), which stipulate that a Vice-Chancellor serves an initial four-year term, renewable for three years, provided the individual has not reached the compulsory retirement age.

GTEC has directed the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Denis Worlanyo Aheto, to act as Vice-Chancellor in the interim.

It further acknowledged that the matter is currently before the Cape Coast High Court and instructed the UCC Governing Council to suspend the appointment of a substantive Vice-Chancellor until the court delivers its ruling.