Lecturers suspended after ‘sex-for-grades’ film

The University of Ghana has suspended two lecturers for various periods without salary after they were filmed sexually harassing undercover reporters in a BBC documentary.

The documentary exposed sexual harassment and misconduct by lecturers at prestigious institutions in West Africa.

Professor Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Kwame Butakor, who were first suspended in October, were on Monday found to have breached the university’s code of conduct. Both deny the allegations.

In a statement, the university handed a six-month suspension without salary to Prof Gaympo and a four-month suspension without salary to Dr Butakor.

The two men must also undergo training on the university’s sexual harassment and misconduct policy, as well as the code of conduct for academic staff.

Prof Gyampo and Dr Butakor will only resume work after a positive assessment. If successful, they would then undergo yearly assessments for the next five years.

Meanwhile in Nigeria, the country’s senate is considering a bill which proposes a five-year jail term for those found guilty of sexual harassment in schools.