GTEC has no power to derecognise degrees – Kpebu insists

Legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has renewed his challenge against the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, accusing the regulator of unlawfully withdrawing recognition from degrees awarded by SMC University.

Kpebu, who represents the SMC University Alumni Association (Ghana Chapter), said his petition before the GTEC Governing Board seeks immediate intervention to address what he calls the “illegal derecognition” of the Swiss institution’s qualifications. He insisted that the Commission’s recent stance has no grounding in law.

In an interview on the Channel One Newsroom on Thursday, November 6, he argued that SMC University met all regulatory requirements and was duly authorised to operate in Ghana. He noted that the institution secured full accreditation in 2012 and again in 2015, giving it the legal mandate to offer recognised degrees. “Once it was duly accredited, it was given the capacity and the licence to operate legally in Ghana. The products, that is, students, have every right to have their certificates recognized for the degrees they pursued,” he said.

Kpebu stressed that GTEC cannot retroactively invalidate degrees students obtained under legitimate accreditation. He stated that such an action would violate constitutional protections and the principles governing administrative conduct. “It is not our law that GTEC can come and seek to derecognise. Article 107 of our Constitution frowns on such conduct. Also, Article 23 on administrative justice requires administrative bodies to be fair in their dealings,” he added.

He maintained that graduates who completed their programmes in good faith should not be subjected to uncertainty over the validity of their qualifications. According to him, the Commission must adhere to due process if it seeks to review policies concerning foreign institutions.

Lawyer Kpebu said the Alumni Association expects the GTEC Board to address the matter swiftly to protect the academic and professional rights of affected graduates.

Legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has filed a petition with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) on behalf of the Swiss Management Centre (SMC) University Alumni Association (Ghana Chapter).

He is calling on the Commission’s Governing Board to intervene in what he terms the “illegal derecognition” of degrees awarded by SMC University, Switzerland.

In a petition dated October 27, 2025, and addressed to GTEC’s Board Chairman, Kpebu argued that the directive issued by the Director-General of the Commission, declaring SMC University degrees unrecognized, was both procedurally and substantively flawed.

He said the decision disregarded the principles of fairness, due process, and legitimate expectation.

According to the petition, SMC University received official accreditation from the National Accreditation Board (NAB) between 2012 and 2018 as a foreign tertiary institution authorized to operate in Ghana. During that period, the university offered several professional and doctoral programmes, including the Doctor of Finance (DFin), Doctor of Management (DoM), and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA).

Kpebu explained that when NAB withdrew SMC University’s accreditation in 2018, it did so because of the school’s “home-country accreditation” status, not because of any academic deficiencies.

Importantly, he said, the Board allowed students already enrolled to complete their programmes and be awarded valid degrees, a position communicated in several official letters confirming the continued legitimacy of such qualifications.