Professor Ransford Gyampo and Dr George Domfeh of the University of Ghana may teach public policy and economics, but their latest lesson had nothing to do with textbooks. It was a masterclass in how two academics can turn a quiet Saturday morning TV appearance into the most entertaining episode Ghanaian television has seen in years.
It happened on The Key Points. Guests were settling in, microphones clipped neatly, studio lights humming. Then Dr Domfeh leaned forward and delivered a claim so outrageous the cameras might as well have zoomed in for dramatic effect. He alleged, on live television, that Prof Gyampo was “a professor who sleeps with under-age girls,” a line so explosive it could have triggered a small earthquake on Legon campus. Gyampo froze for a second, then rose from his seat like a man suddenly remembering he left something important in the car. Dr Domfeh later said the professor tried to throw a punch at him. TV3 insists it never happened, though the editors suspiciously trimmed that part out, leaving everyone wondering whether the studio footage is now in a vault guarded by people who speak only in nondisclosure agreements.
Back on campus, the gossip mills started spinning faster than the university’s ceiling fans. Senior lecturers whispered, junior lecturers speculated, and students, as usual, simply asked whether the fight would be added to their lecture notes. Some claimed they saw Gyampo pacing the corridor muttering about “due process,” while Domfeh reportedly asked repeatedly for the unedited tape like a detective in a crime drama.
TV3 eventually issued a statement saying they “regret the unfortunate circumstances,” a sentence so carefully polished it must have been ironed before release. The promise to “enhance protocols” suggests the station may soon require visiting academics to pass through metal detectors or perhaps deposit their tempers at the reception desk.
Then came the lawyers. Gyampo’s legal team fired off a letter demanding a retraction and apology within 24 hours. It read like the academic version of a countdown timer in an action movie, except instead of defusing a bomb, someone had to un-say a scandal.
Meanwhile, the University of Ghana community watched the drama unfold like a telenovela with higher vocabulary. Was a blow really thrown? Does the full footage exist? Will the next departmental seminar require a referee? No one knows. What is certain is that both men have achieved what few academics manage in a lifetime: they made the entire country stop, watch, rewind and debate a televised academic quarrel with the energy usually reserved for football matches.
In the end, the whole episode served as a reminder that even in the Ivory Tower, tempers can flare, accusations can fly, and yes (when the cameras are rolling) professors can forget the syllabus and treat the nation to an unforgettable spectacle.
