Whatever happens after UG probe, we stand by our journalism - BBC

The BBC Africa Eye team has told GhanaWeb in a Q&A that it has captured ample evidence to show that Professor Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Kwame Butakor broke the University of Ghana’s rules on sexual misconduct when they engaged in inappropriate behaviour in the “Sex for Grades” investigative documentary.

When asked by GhanaWeb about how it will react if Dr Butakor and Prof Gyampo are found innocent by the university’s anti-sexual harassment and misconduct committee, the BBC Africa Eye team said it will stand by its editorial guidelines.

“What happens next is for the University of Ghana’s anti-harassment committee to determine. We stand by our journalism which complies with BBC’s strict Editorial Guidelines,” the team told GhanaWeb in an exclusive Q&A.

It added that it has already supplied the committee with as much evidentiary material in the documentary as possible and would “leave the university’s internal investigation to the university itself and will report on any significant new developments.”

Many have questioned the Africa Eye team’s decision to end the undercover investigation when it could have gone further to establish a criminal intent than just exposing a moral decadence.

GhanaWeb put the question to the team led by Kiki Mordi and they said: “Undercover filming requires striking a balance between evidence gathering and the safety of your operatives. We believe we captured ample evidence to show that both Dr Butakor and Prof Gyampo have engaged in behaviour in breach of the University of Ghana’s Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy. Continuing to film our interactions with the lecturers further could have risked putting our undercover operatives in harm’s way.”

Professor Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Kwame Butakor have both been interdicted by the University of Ghana following the documentary. The two lecturers are awaiting their invitation by the Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee of the university for investigation.