According to ASEPA, the communiqué failed to address the subject matter and the core allegations made against the two respondents satisfactorily.

“The University failed to make a pronouncement on the subject of the expose and the hearing which was “Allegations of Sex for Grades and found these two lecturers guilty only on misconduct contrary to Regulation 15 of the University’s Code of Conduct,” the statement said.

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In a statement signed by the Executive Director, Mensah Thompson, it said: “There seems to be a clear attempt to gag these respondents and to court fear among the academic community going into the 2020 elections, especially in the case of Prof Ransford Gyampo who has been very outspoken and known to be very critical of the Government.”

The statement further said the preferred punishment for breaching such regulations ordinarily does not include withdrawing of the employee’s basic salary or undergoing positive assessment training or annual assessment before resumption of duty.

“The University failed to take into accounts the 4 months period for which the respondents have remained interdicted contrary to the sentencing regime in our Justice delivery system which makes the sentence of 6 months and 4 months suspension without pay unlawful contrary to Section 69(2a) of the Labour Act of Ghana, Act 651,” the statement added.

ASEPA has, therefore, urged the University to allow the sanctions of the lecturers to take retrospective effect, starting from the day they were interdicted and also restore the basic salaries of these lecturers throughout the remaining period of their sanctions.

Legal counsel Francis-Xavier Sosu of F-X Law & Associates on behalf of the duo, wrote to management of the University of his clients’ decision to accept their suspension.

Mr Sosu in his letter to management of the University, said his clients respected the decision of the University as they wish to bring finality to the matter and put it behind them for the collective interest of the entire University community.

He however argued the suspension was a bit harsh given that the two had not been found guilty of sexual misconduct or exchanging grades for sex as purported by BBC Africa in its expose.

Read full letter below:

The lecturers, Prof. Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Kwame Butakor were, however, found culpable of conducting themselves in a manner that caused embarrassment to the university, for which reason the committee advised the university authorities to refer them to the university’s disciplinary committee for appropriate action.

The report, a copy of which is available to the Daily Graphic, said there was no evidence that Prof. Gyampo and Dr Butakor breached the university’s policy on sexual harassment.

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“The committee finds that on the totality of the evidence before it, there is a huge variance between the import of the title: ‘Sex for grades’, and the content of the actual secret video recording of the affected lecturers of the University of Ghana,” it said.

The report was presented by the committee to the university authorities in November 2019, but the details were not made public.

On November 20, 2019, the university, in a statement, said the two lecturers had been referred to the disciplinary committee, but the committee is yet to make a determination

No evidence

On the issue of sexual misconduct, the six-member fact-finding committee reached the conclusion that there was no evidence from the BBC documentary which proved any act of sexual misconduct on the part of the lecturers within the context of the university’s regulations.

“The committee notes that neither the documentary nor the BBC has provided any evidence to demonstrate that the affected lecturers demanded sex in exchange for grades, as asserted by the title of the documentary: ‘Sex for grades’,” the report stated.

It further noted that the title of the documentary was sensational and misleading.

Explaining its findings, the committee said per paragraphs 10.1, 12.1 and 12.4 of the Code of Conduct for Academic Staff and the Anti-Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy of the university, a victim of sexual misconduct must be a member of the university.

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However, the evidence on record showed that the two alleged victims in the video — Zara and Abigail — were not members of the university.

“Consequently, the committee notes that in the absence of any evidence that Zara and Abigail are students or members of the University of Ghana, the provisions of paragraphs 10.1, 12.1 and 12.4 of the Code of Conduct for Senior Members of the University of Ghana and the Anti-Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy of the university cannot be triggered against the affected lecturers,” it said.

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What the law says

Paragraph 10.1 of the Code of Conduct for Academic Staff of the University of Ghana stipulates: “Academic staff shall refrain from any type of harassment or discrimination against students and shall adhere to the Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy of the university.”

Paragraph 12.1 of the code says: “Academic staff are prohibited from engaging in sexual or amorous behaviour with students,” while Paragraph 12. 4 says: “Academic staff are bound by the Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy of the university.”