The 74th Annual Council Meeting of The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has ended in Accra, Ghana, with the election of Ghana’s Chief Government
Nominee on Council, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, as Vice Chairman for a one-year
tenure. He succeeds Honourable Amos Armah Fully of Liberia.
The meeting, which was held from Tuesday, 24th to Saturday, 28
th March 2026,
was declared open by His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Ghana, who was ably
represented by Her Excellency, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Vice
President of the Republic of Ghana.
In a keynote address, President Mahama congratulated WAEC on its 74
th
anniversary and stated that the government and people of Ghana are deeply
honoured to host the 74th Annual Meeting of the West African Examinations
Council. He also commended the member governments of WAEC for their efforts
to sustain this great institution and lend credibility to their assessment efforts.
He
further stated that his government will continue to collaborate with other member
governments to provide the necessary support to build strong structures and
enhance operational efficiency and sustainability.
He noted that the West African Examinations Council has remained, for more than
seven decades, one of the most successful examples of regional collaboration on
the African continent.
As an assessment body, the Council has made significant
strides in upholding educational standards through credible examinations.
Continuing, he averred that countless citizens of the West African Sub-region,
holding enviable positions, are products of the rigorous and trusted systems that
WAEC have put in place.
The President commended the Council for the innovative mechanisms it has put in
place to maintain fairness, transparency, and integrity in its examination process.
He, however, stressed that the surge in examination malpractice threatens to erode these enviable goals. He added that the plethora of fraudsters, all too ready to
falsify results and alter certificates, threatens the very core of WAEC’s mandate.
He warned that if care is not taken, the Council risks losing its credibility to these
fraudsters. Adding that this unfortunate development is not a challenge to be
surmounted by the Council alone, and called on all people who have truth, honesty,
and integrity as our core values to collectively defend the credibility of the
Council’s examinations by saying no to malpractice and yes to integrity.
In his speech, the Honourable Minister of Education, Ghana, Honourable
Haruna Iddrisu, who was represented by the Deputy Minister of Education,
Hon. Dr. Clement A. Apaak, acknowledged the critical role examinations play, not
only as a means of screening candidates for further educational advancement, but
more importantly, as an instrument for honing the intellectual and practical skills that
are essential for developing the human capital required to drive the service and
productive sectors of member states’ economies. He also acknowledged that the
international version of WASSCE conducted by WAEC has more inclination
towards credibility, comparability, regional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and
the impact on students’ competitiveness within the sub-region
and therefore, in accordance with the President of Ghana’s directives, the Ministry
of Education has reinstated Ghana’s participation in the international version of
WAEC’s WASSCE for School Candidates, beginning with the 2026 diet, alongside
other member countries.
At the formal opening of the meeting, Council honoured three Ghanaian candidates
with the WAEC International Excellence Award for their outstanding performance
in WASSCE for School Candidates, 2025. They were Miss Huda Suglo Suleman (1st
Prize), Miss Paula Adzo Elinam Suwo (2nd Prize), and Miss Matthea Aba Andoh (3rd
Prize). The three candidates were selected from 2,612,830 who sat the examination
in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The Augustus Bandele
Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa, 2025, also went to Miss Huda
Suglo Suleman.
On the same August occasion, the prestigious award of Distinguished Friend of
Council was conferred on an eminent citizen of Ghana – Professor William Afiakwa
Asomaning – for his immeasurable contributions towards the achievement of the
Council’s objectives.
Council, which is WAEC’s governing board, holds its meeting yearly in rotation
among the five member countries, namely: The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The 73rd Meeting was hosted in Monrovia in 2025 by the
Government of the Republic of Liberia, and, at the invitation of Nigeri a’s
delegation, the 75
th edition will be hosted by the Federal Government of
Nigeria in March 2027.
The meeting, which lasted for a week, was attended by delegates from all the
member countries. They included government nominees, representatives of
ministries/departments of education, universities, secondary schools, and other
interest groups. The meeting a l s o w i t n e s s e d the 31
st in the series of the
Council’s Annual Endowment Fund Lectures entitled, “Fostering Assessment
Integrity within the Context of Credentialism”, delivered by the Technical
Advisor to Honourable
Minister of Education, Ghana – Professor
George K. T. Oduro.
In the course of the meeting, Council received reports on WAEC’s operations in
the preceding year as well as information on educational programmes and
developments in the fi ve member countries. Council also ratified the decisions
of its various committees made in the previous year and considered action points
from the national offices to strategically position them to meet the yearnings and
aspirations of stakeholders in their respective domains.
Council received with acclamation the Registrar’s Annual Report for the Period
April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, and a report from the Research Department of
WAEC.
At the end of the week-long meeting, the Chairman of Council, Prof. Thomas B. R.
Yormah, expressed appreciation to the Government and good people of Ghana for
the warm hospitality accorded the delegates and for their contributions in ensuring
the successful hosting of the meeting.
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