Holier than-thou Tsikata

By Mavis Jonah

Those whose conduct gives room for talk are always the first to attack their neighbors. - Jean Baptiste Molière.

According to George Bernard Shaw, when a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty. When the National Accreditation Board (NAB) responded (http://nab.gov.gh/news1/426-new-news) to Dr. Prosper Tsikata and his faceless co-writer Dr. A. Kobla Dotse erroneous article, one thought that their ignorance was addressed. But they came up with a rejoinder questioning the credibility of NAB and insulted its Executive Secretary and board members.

They claimed to have carried out a research, but the methodology used cannot stand the test in any academic research as pointed out by NAB. The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) responded to the crap (http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/rejoinder-upsa-justifies-swiss-university-s-accreditation.html). Dr. Tsikata was still not satisfied with the responses and kept on with their witch hunt because Dr. Tsikata loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.

Their write-up can best be published in a newspaper, the social media or a predatory journal. It is an apology of an academic research paper.

Dr. Tsikata claims to be a specialists who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else. His methodology was flawed. The individuals and institutions he claimed to have interviewed have denied having any interaction with them. It is an indictment on any academic to use non-existence persons or institutions as a source in an essay.

The only verifiable documentation the writer or writers managed to produce was the email correspondence between them and the executive secretary of NAB. They relied on unattributed and questionable sources in the newspapers and the social media, especially Facebook.

A serious academic will only use such sources as a lead to get to the primary source to investigate further. Using such secondary sources as the basis of their conclusion removes the veil and their real intentions exposed, giving credence to the saying that "a man generally has two reasons for doing a thing. One that sounds good, and a real one".

The report can best described as "yellow journalism," that is Journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration aimed tarnishing the image of or getting at perceived adversaries.

When the Daily Graphic Newspaper refused to be part of his Pull Him Down (PHD) agenda, he lampooned the newspaper's Managing Director, the editor and its editorial board and described them as incompetent. He descended heavily on the Inspector General of Police as if he has an axe to grind with him.

When the Ministry of Education and its minister treated his unsubstantiated allegation with the contempt it deserved, attacked the minister and questioned her credentials and the heads of the institutions responsible for tertiary education in Ghana. He forgot that the Minister taught him at the University of Cape Coast where he was found of cutting corners.

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), which is the umbrella organization of all university teachers in Ghana dismissed the allegations by Dr. Tsikata with a press release in which it said there was nothing fishy with the doctorate degrees awarded by the Swiss Management Centre (SMC).

Because the UTAG "verdict" was not in Dr. Tsikata's favour, he decided to attack the personality of the president of UTAG, Dr. Harry L. K. Agbanu. While bedeviling us all with their false morality and holier-than-thou pretenses, Tsikata in particular has been involved in forgery of academic documents that he used to gain admission into Hull University.

He is alleged to have forged transcript of his results, using the University of Cape Coast letterhead to gain admission into Hull University. The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself. Tsikata is a person who boasts himself and he is hard to please because nobody tries to please him.

Dr. Tsikata is very inclined to set moral standards for others. His other colleague, I do not know, but Prosper Tsikata is a fraudster. He swindled several foreigners in several thousands of dollars under the pretext of facilitating the purchase and processing of gold. This was adequately reported in the September 27, 2007 edition of the Daily Graphic. The case was settled out of court.

Tsikata wants to attract attention to enable him to launch his political ambition. He has always attributed his unsuccessful bid to contest the Ablekuma parliamentary seat on the NDC ticket to some individuals who he vowed to get at. He cannot go back to Ablekuma central because he promised some of his supporters to assist them get visas to the United States of America. A promise, he never fulfilled.

He was in Ghana recently and went to Ketu North to assess his chances in contesting his cousin for the seat. He did not have a dog's chance. He quietly returned to the USA and continued writing to malign.

The hypocrisy of Dr. Tsikata insults our intelligence and my candid advice to Dr. Tsikata is he should practice what he preaches before he tries to teach it to someone else.

Writer's e-mail: [email protected]