Scholarship Bonanza: Government lays bill before Parliament to overhaul scholarships scheme

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has laid a bill before Parliament, the Scholarships Authority Bill, a law aimed at overhauling the country’s scholarship system, which he acknowledged has long been plagued by cronyism and nepotism.

Laid before the House on Tuesday, July 8, the bill seeks to transform the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat into an Authority with a mandate to ensure scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit and financial need.

“The policy underpinning this bill is to deal with nepotism and cronyism associated with the award of scholarships,” the Education Minister told Parliament. “We want to strengthen the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat into an Authority to administer scholarships meritoriously to deserving Ghanaian students. Need will be a defining value of the Ghana Scholarship Authority if established.”

The Minister further explained that the Authority would align its scholarship allocations with the country’s human resource and development priorities, placing emphasis on areas such as science, mathematics, and education.

The new legislation follows The Fourth Estate’s exposé, The Scholarship Bonanza, which uncovered how government scholarships meant to support academically gifted but financially disadvantaged students were often dished out to individuals with strong political ties and those from affluent backgrounds. 

The Scholarship Bonanza series exposed a list of politically connected individuals and social elites as beneficiaries of scholarship awards, including Dr. Dennis Addo, the founder of the Claron Hospital, and a member of the New Patriotic Party; Lucie Ekeleba Blay, daughter of Freddie Blay, the then Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and former National Chairman of the NPP; Gifty Oware-Mensah, the then Deputy Director of the Ghana National Service Secretariat; and Nana Adubea Asante-Apeatu, the daughter of a former Inspector-General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu.

The investigation also revealed that some individuals received multiple scholarships, with amounts ranging from GBP 13,250 to GBP 55,000, covering tuition and living expenses for foreign studies. Meanwhile, countless deserving students in Ghana are denied this support and are left struggling to continue their education. Others outside the political and influential circles who received scholarships are now facing harsh realities—tuition and living expenses are in arrears, leaving some at risk of deportation. Others are forced to turn to unconventional means just to scrape together enough money for tuition and hostel fees.

The investigation led to nationwide outrage and political discourse, sparking demands for accountability and pressure for the scholarship system to be overhauled. The former Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo; the Executive Director of the Institute of Education Studies, Dr Peter Anti; and the former President of the Ghana Bar Association, Yaw Acheampong Boafo, criticised the practice and urged Parliament to enact a law to streamline the Secretariat’s operations to promote equity and transparency in the administration of scholarships.

In the lead-up to the 2024 general elections, both the National Democratic Congress (NDC), then in opposition, and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) pledged to reform the government scholarship scheme.

The NDC, in its manifesto launched on August 24, 2024, promised to introduce legislation to regulate the award of scholarships, barring political appointees and their associates from benefitting. It further pledged to align scholarship awards with national policies and eliminate political patronage, corruption, cronyism, and nepotism in the award of government scholarships.

 President John Dramani Mahama, who was then a flagbearer, criticised what he described as entrenched political patronage in the scholarship scheme and committed to aligning scholarship awards with national development goals.

At the same time, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also promised in its 2024 manifesto to enhance transparency by publishing a comprehensive list of scholarship beneficiaries annually.

The NPP proposed integrating databases across agencies managing public scholarship schemes, including the Scholarship Secretariat, Student Loans Trust Fund (SLTF), GETFund, and GNPC Scholarship Scheme, to improve oversight and eliminate duplications.

The then Vice President and flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, reaffirmed this commitment during a media engagement, stressing the party’s intention to streamline and bring transparency to the administration of public scholarships.