Management of Sunyani Technical University (STU) has disputed an alleged sex-for-grades scandal claimed against several instructors at the university, branding the accusation as incorrect and unjustified.
“Management wishes to state unequivocally that after thorough investigations into the recently alleged sex-for-grades claim by a former SRC President of the University, Mr. Owusu Agyekum, not a speck of evidence or proof could be found to back his allegations,” the university authorities stated.
Therefore, the administration of the university encouraged Mr. Agyekum to withdraw the “wild allegations” and offer their sincere apologies, pointing out that the accusations had damaged the university’s hard-earned image in one way or another.
After more than two months of investigation, neither Mr. Owusu Agyekum nor any other person was able to provide any hard evidence to support the allegations, according to a press release signed by STU Vice Chancellor Professor Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani.
Therefore, the University’s Management came to the conclusion that Mr. Owusu Agyekum’s charges lacked merit.
Recall that on February 14, 2024, the Management of STU released a press statement announcing the formation of a committee to look into the former SRC President’s purported sex-for-grades accusation.
On Sunday, February 11, 2024, Mr. Agyekum uploaded a video to his TikTok account, a social media platform, in which he claimed to have had instances of “sex for grades” at the Sunyani university.
In accordance with its zero-tolerance policy for any kind of sexual harassment or misconduct, the university management moved quickly to form a seven-member committee, led by Mr. Peter Duayah, Bono Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, to look into the matter and recommend appropriate action.
The statement states that the complainant was unable to be there in person owing to his hectic job schedule in the United Kingdom Army, so the committee used an interactive technique to gather evidence and met with him via Zoom.
It said that in the initial meeting with the complainant, he (the complainant) made strong assurances that he would provide the committee with supporting documentation, such as audio recordings, films, and testimonies from claimed victims of the sex-for-grades scam.
But, since Mr. Agyekum did not present the committee with any proof of any kind—not even the purported audio recordings or videos—the committee was forced to conclude its investigation.
Instead, in the course of the Committee’s ongoing attempts to get the aforementioned pieces of evidence from the complainant, Mr. Agyekum stopped answering all of the committee chairman’s calls and WhatsApp messages.
When reached by the Committee, some of his purported victims of the sex-for-grades scam, whose contact information he had provided, refused to provide any relevant testimony.
The university, a public institution, was said to believe in accountability and transparency. Copies of the Committee’s full report were sent to the Minister of Education via the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and posted on the university’s website for interested parties to access.
It must also be stated that the Committee had not been dissolved even though it has submitted its report, the statement indicated, and added “we still want to give the opportunity to as many people as possible who have concrete evidence about any form of sexual harassment perpetrated against them to make the evidence available to the committee for the necessary action to be taken.”
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