A private citizen, Odeneho Kwaku Takyi, popularly known as Sir Obama, has formally petitioned President John Mahama to dismiss the CEO of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Tanko Rashid-Computer, over allegations of academic fraud.
Mr. Rashid-Computer also serves as the Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In a petition submitted to the Jubilee House on Thursday, June 12, 2025, the petitioner alleges that “Mr. Sofo Tanko Rashid-Computer holds a fraudulent PhD in Public Administration, purportedly obtained in 2016 from an unaccredited Kinsnow University in the United States of America.”
“This grave situation does not only represent a significant breach of public trust and a scandalous act of academic fraud, but also directly contravenes the fundamental principles enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and the Code of Conduct 2025 for public officials (promulgated by your very good self), along with other laws of the Republic of Ghana,” parts of the petition read.
The petitioner attached findings from his investigation into the alleged university, asserting that “the university neither exists in the United States nor any other part of the globe.”
He further claimed that Kinsnow University is not listed among accredited institutions in the U.S. and is “conspicuously absent from all authoritative databases of recognized and accredited universities in the United States, including those maintained by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.”
The petition also referenced a letter purportedly written by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to Mr. Rashid-Computer, advising him to desist from using the ‘Dr.’ title after it questioned the legitimacy of his PhD.
Citing violations of the Code of Conduct for public officers, the petitioner alleged potential criminal acts, including “defrauding by false pretence by presenting a fake PhD to secure or maintain a high-ranking government position such as CEO of GIFEC.”
He is therefore calling for Mr. Rashid-Computer’s immediate dismissal, a probe into how he used the alleged credentials to obtain the position, and a broader investigation to determine whether other public officials may have committed similar infractions.
The petitioner also urged the President to mandate GTEC to scrutinize Mr. Rashid-Computer’s Bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees, and to direct the relevant state security agencies to initiate prosecution.
Additionally, he called for the enforcement of stricter academic credential verification procedures for all current and future government appointees, and for the application of Section 5 of the Code of Conduct 2025, which outlines sanctions ranging from formal reprimand to termination.
The petition comes a day after the petitioner, who has waged a social media campaign against Mr. Rashid-Computer’s academic claims, responded via Facebook to what he described as offensive comments made by the GIFEC CEO during a Joy Prime interview on Wednesday, June 11, in which Mr. Rashid-Computer insisted that his PhD was legitimate.
In recent months, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has raised alarms over the use of fake academic titles. According to GTEC, the misuse of honorary titles contravenes the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023) and erodes public trust in Ghana’s educational system.
The Commission stressed that only accredited institutions are authorized to confer honorary degrees, and recipients should not present them as academic qualifications.
Just weeks ago, President Mahama withdrew the appointment of a member of the NHIA Board who was accused of posing as a medical doctor.
The petitioner used his Facebook page on Thursday to publicly confirm the submission of the petition and reiterate his call for accountability.
Below is the full petition:
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