Former president Jerry John Rawlings has refuted reports by the Ghanaian Chronicle and other media houses that he had said one of his daughters was a victim of ‘sex for grades’.
A press release by his Communications Director, Kobina Andoh Amoakwa, dismissed the front-page headline of the paper captioned ‘My daughter was a victim of Sex-for-Grades.’
He said the report “is a false and distorted rendition of what transpired.”
Mr Rawlings at a meeting with the National Executive of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on Thursday extensively criticised the scourge of the ‘Sex for Grades.’
He urged higher institutions of learning to use external examiners to stem incidents of ‘Sex for Grades.’
The former president said many brilliant students, particularly girls who refuse to succumb to their lecturers’ sexual demands end up “getting unfair deals” in their results.
Ghana’s longest-serving head of state said it was sad that students who are not academically good but give in to such lecturers often get good grades.
His comment follows BBC African Eye’s exposé at the University of Ghana and University of Lagos in Nigerian, which implicated some lecturers sexually harassing students.
“For the avoidance of doubt, he was very clear and adamant in clarifying that fact. It is irresponsible and bad journalism that the Chronicle chose to publish utter fabrications,” the release said.
Mr Rawlings said: “Actually I must admit that this thing has happened to one of my daughters before. It wasn’t to do with sex.”
The former president, thus, described “the reportage of the Chronicle as false, derogatory and an attempt to draw nonexistent inferences which are calculated to embarrass the former President and his family.”
Below is the statement: