The Fourth Estate to Release Names of Scholarship Beneficiaries Soon

The Fourth Estate, a prominent private media organization, has disclosed its forthcoming publication of the complete list of scholarship beneficiaries from 2019 and 2020, as uncovered by their investigative report.

Conducted by The Fourth Estate, the investigation revealed that certain influential individuals, as well as the children, relatives, and associates of powerful figures, were granted scholarships. This was in contradiction to the primary aim of the Scholarship Secretariat, which is to provide scholarships, both locally and abroad, to academically gifted yet financially needy students.

Initially, access to the list of beneficiaries was denied by the Scholarship Secretariat in March 2021. However, The Fourth Estate persisted and ultimately sought the intervention of the Right to Information (RTI) Commission.

The RTI Commission ruled in favor of disclosure, emphasizing that since public funds were used for the scholarships, transparency was imperative. Nonetheless, personal information will be redacted before the data is made public.

In response to the RTI request, the Scholarship Secretariat revealed that it had expended GHS237.5 million and GHS200 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively, covering both local and foreign scholarships.

Seth Kwame Bokpe, a journalist with The Fourth Estate, stated in an interview with Bernard Avle on Citi FM’s Citi Breakfast Show, “There are a little over 900 individuals who benefited from the secretariat, and we will soon publish the full list along with a value-for-money analysis.”

It was noted that a significant number of beneficiaries were known members and activists of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), including a special assistant to the Second Lady, Samira Bawumia.

A sum of GBP17,355 was reportedly disbursed for the special assistant to pursue studies at a university in the United Kingdom. However, the individual did not physically attend the university, opting instead to drop out of the program after participating in only a few online classes from Ghana.

There were also instances of multiple scholarships being awarded. At least 26 individuals received multiple scholarships, enabling them to pursue different programs either in two consecutive years orin a single year.