GCUC Lecturer sues to halt graduation of ‘unqualified’ students

A lecturer at Ghana Christian University College (GCUC) has dragged the school to court, seeking to stop its upcoming graduation ceremony over claims that several unqualified students are being lined up to graduate into Ghana’s health sector.

The lecturer, Josephine Aba Sackey of the Faculty of Health Sciences, filed the suit against the university, its president Reverend James Yamoah, and its affiliate institution, the University for Development Studies (UDS). The matter is currently before the Adentan High Court.

In her statement of claim, Ms. Sackey accuses the university of engaging in what she describes as “academic and regulatory misconduct.” She alleges that management has consistently admitted and processed students who do not meet the minimum entry standards, including those with failed WASSCE grades and vocational certificates that are not recognised for nursing and health science programmes.

According to her, despite repeated internal warnings, the university’s president continues to push through such students for graduation. She cites memos from the school’s Vice President, Dr. Richard Owusu Nyarko, cautioning against the graduation of at least 41 ineligible students and flagging the existence of unauthorized satellite campuses in Kumasi, Takoradi, Nalerigu, and Anyinase.

Ms. Sackey also contends that the situation has reached alarming levels, especially after the Nurses and Midwifery Council (NMC) revoked GCUC’s accreditation for its nursing programmes in September 2025. “Yet, the institution continues to prepare and graduate students as if nothing has happened,” she claimed in her affidavit.

Through her lawyer, Justice Abdulai, Ms. Sackey has filed an interlocutory injunction to prevent the graduation, which was scheduled for October 18. She insists that allowing such students into the workforce poses grave risks to public safety.

“The 2nd Respondent, by his actions, will cause the release of unqualified persons into the health sector, resulting in the employment of such dangerous persons in our hospitals and health centers to attend to members of the public,” her motion reads in part.

She argues that the harm caused by the graduation of these students would be irreversible, warning that “no amount of financial compensation can repair the damage that may result from such negligence.”

In her suit, Ms. Sackey is asking the court to suspend the graduation ceremony and compel the authorities to carry out a full audit of the university’s admissions and academic processes. She is also calling for the removal of the university’s president and a review of degrees previously awarded to unqualified students.

The Adentan High Court has fixed November 13, 2025, to hear the injunction application. If granted, the university’s graduation ceremony could be halted indefinitely.