The Minority Caucus in Parliament has demanded the immediate interdiction of the Registrar of the Scholarships Secretariat, Dr Kingsley Agyemang.
This follows the publication of investigative reports by The Fourth Estate. The investigations, based on analyses of data reluctantly supplied by the Scholarships Secretariat in response to a right to information request, revealed how the Scholarships Secretariat has been awarding scholarships meant for brilliant but needy students to the wards, children, relatives and friends of the politically connected and the social elite.
Notable beneficiaries include Lucie Blay Ekeleba, daughter of the Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Freddie Blay; a Deputy Director of the Ghana National Service Secretariat, Gifty Oware-Mensah; Michael Ofori-Atta Jr, a relative of President Nana Akufo-Addo and Ken Ofori-Atta; Nana Adubea Asante-Apeatu, the daughter of a former Inspector-General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu and Dr Dennis Addo, the founder of the Claron Hospital and a member of the New Patriotic Party.
“The Minority’s call for swift action underscores the gravity of the situation and the need for decisive measures to restore public trust and safeguard the integrity of Ghana’s educational institutions,” a statement, signed by the Minority spokesperson on education, Peter Nortsu- Kotoe, said.
“As the nation awaits further developments, all eyes are on President Akufo-Addo to heed the demands of the Minority and take decisive action to address this alarming scandal.”
The opposition Members of Parliament also want the Special Prosecutor to conduct an immediate forensic audit of all scholarships awarded since January 2017.
The Fourth Estate’s investigations also showed that at least 17 people received multiple scholarships which allowed them to pursue different programmes in two consecutive years or different programmes in a single year. This means while some needy students were struggling to secure a scholarship to fund one programme, others were receiving funding for two different programmes.
At least 11 individuals received multiple scholarships in consecutive years (2019 and 2020), with amounts ranging from GBP13,250 to GBP55,000 per school to cover tuition and living expenses. Six others were granted two different scholarships within the same year, either in different countries or in the same country.
The Minority condemned the award of multiple scholarships to certain individuals, describing it as an “abuse of the taxpayers’ money”.
Meanwhile, a Deputy National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress, Osman Ayariga, has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to investigate the Registrar of the Scholarships Secretariat for misconduct in the administration of scholarships.
He wants the OSP to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the activities of the Registrar and other staff members of the secretariat in the award of scholarships.
“I wish to state that these matters ought to be investigated as a matter of urgency to forestall any future misappropriation of our resources,” Mr Ayariga’s petition said. “I hereby request that the Registrar be subjected to investigations and be made to step aside pending the outcome of the investigations to prevent interference with the investigative process.”
YOU CAN READ MORE AT:
Scholarships Bonanza: Full list of Foreign Scholarships beneficiaries – Part 1
Scholarships bonanza: The powerful grab as double scholarships flow
Scholarships bonanza: How some are struggling while others received double double
Scholarship secretariat isn’t the only scholarship body that does this. I am a victim of both scholarship secretariat and GeTFUND scholarship. I applied for GeTFUND scholarship in January 2023, made enquiries in March 2023 but not even an automated reply. I checked my portal to realize the application was there comfortably in pdf format. Believe it or not, no email,no text no nothing. I doubt my application was even worked on but yet there were list of people published for that year. As much as it may seem simple to others,it’s very heartbreaking and traumatic for students who go through this.