The Member of Parliament for Effia, Isaac Boamah Nyarko, has called for the complete dissolution of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, arguing that the institution no longer serves the interests of those it was established to support.
His comments come at a time when discontent among Ghanaian students studying abroad under government sponsorship is reaching a boiling point.
“We do not need a scholarship secretariat as of today to run scholarships in this country. So once the scholarship is defined by legislation, and you are determining the number of people you want, you can either run it at the local or the regional level.
“You take it away from the political apparatchiks. Set up offices within these areas, devoid of interpersonal relationships,” Nyarko stated during an appearance on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV.
His remarks reflect growing frustration with the Scholarship Secretariat, which is facing widespread criticism from both students and segments of the political class over its handling of stipends and allowances for government-sponsored students.
The Coalition of Ghanaian Scholars Abroad has announced plans to stage a demonstration on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in protest of what they describe as “government neglect.”
In a statement issued on Monday, May 19, the Coalition revealed that some students have gone 14 months without receiving their monthly stipends, while book and health allowances have not been paid for two academic years.
Representatives of the Coalition, based across Europe, North America, and Asia, accuse the government of turning a blind eye to their suffering despite repeated appeals and attempts at diplomatic engagement.
Boamah Nyarko believes decentralizing the scholarship administration process and removing it from political influence is the only sustainable way forward. According to him, the current model promotes inefficiency and favoritism, which ultimately punishes deserving students.
