The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Dr. Clement Apaak has accused President Akufo-Addo of politically influencing the honorary doctorate degree awarded him recently.
The University of Cape Coast conferred an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership degree on the President at a ceremony at the campus on Saturday, 29th May 2021.
But speaking in an interview on Okay FM monitored by Kasapafmonline.com, Dr. Apaak who’s also the MP for Builsa South stated that it was ethically wrong for the President who makes appointments to the University’s Governing Council to be awarded by the same institution while still in office.
He added that once the President appoints people to serve on the Governing Council of Public Universities he can compromise and influence decisions of the Council.
“If this beneficiary of a doctoral degree(President) appoints members to the Governing Council and it’s the Council that makes decisions is his award not politically motivated? It’s as simple as that.”
“The best practice is that a sitting president is allowed to finish serving his or her tenure before the person is honored. But when a sitting President who appoints people to the Council is selected and given an award it is very clear that it was through political influence and therefore unethical. They should have allowed him to complete his term in 2025 before awarding him. There are some political influences there,” Dr. Apaak stated.
