Ghana’s foreign scholarship crisis blamed on corruption, nepotism – Education committee chair

Chairman of Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, has pointed to corruption and nepotism as the root causes of the ongoing crisis surrounding Ghana’s foreign scholarship programme, which has resulted in government debts of nearly £40 million owed to universities in the UK and US.

Speaking in an interview on Citi FM on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Mr Nortsu-Kotoe revealed that several foreign universities have begun blacklisting Ghanaian students due to the government's failure to pay tuition fees and stipends, forcing some students to either suspend their studies or return home.

He attributed the problem to irregularities in how scholarships were awarded, citing the approval of expensive, short-term courses and a lack of clear selection criteria.

“Our investigation revealed that the number of students, the cost of the programmes, and how beneficiaries were selected were all part of the problem,” he said.

Some short courses in the UK and US reportedly cost between £15,000 and £25,000 and lasted only three months, an expenditure Nortsu-Kotoe described as unjustifiable and excessive.

The Education Committee had received reports as early as mid-2024 of Ghanaian students being barred from lectures or evicted from accommodation due to unpaid fees. Yet efforts to demand accountability from the Scholarship Secretariat were initially rebuffed, with the registrar claiming it reported directly to the Presidency and not Parliament.

After pressure, the registrar eventually appeared before the committee and admitted to delays in funding releases. In response to the deepening crisis, President John Mahama has directed that the Scholarship Secretariat be transferred under the Ministry of Education for better oversight and transparency.

A National Scholarship Authority Bill is currently under review in Parliament. If passed, it will establish a governing board to oversee scholarship administration and prevent abuse of power.

“At the moment, there’s no board—so the person in charge can essentially act without checks,” Mr Nortsu-Kotoe noted, likening the previous award system to the distribution of “kelewele.”

He also disclosed that efforts are being made to negotiate with affected universities to allow students, particularly those nearing completion, more time before fee enforcement actions are taken.

While acknowledging that some of the debt may have been carried over from previous administrations, Nortsu-Kotoe stressed that the current government must assess how the scholarships were granted before deciding on payments.

The ongoing debt crisis has left many Ghanaian students stranded, facing academic suspension, loss of accommodation, and emotional distress, as foreign institutions move to recover outstanding payments.

Nortsu-Kotoe vowed that new measures would introduce stricter controls, ensuring that scholarships are merit-based, cost-effective, and sustainable going forward.