UK Universities Chase Ghanaian Students Over £40M Scholarship Secretariat Debt- Registrar

Ghanaian students studying various programmes in the United Kingdom (UK) are confronting turbulent times as the government of Ghana is owing their institutions of study almost £40 million.

This was confirmed by the new Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, Mr Kwaku Asafo Agyei to the King of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, during a visit to the Manhyia Palace on May 30, 2025.

According to him, he inherited a huge debt from his predecessor.

The debt is owed to institutions in the UK and the USA, with students in UK being chased by Debt Collectors, he confirmed.

“There is a huge debt. We owe UK almost £40 million. As of December, we were owing them around £36 million. From December to June the debt has grown to almost £40 million.”

Due to these debts, he said the institutions nearly blacklisted the Secretariat.

The Secretariat in response to this has decided to suspend scholarships for study abroad temporarily to figure out an effective payment mode to clear the arrears.

“I went to Present Mahama and he decided that we dealt with the staggering debt instead of adding up more by devising a way to go about the payment so that we gain the institutions’ trust to admit new students next year.”

He also delved into the Secretariat’s almost $4 million debt to Memphis University which may affect the signing of an impending MoU in August.

“The debt there has increased. It’s almost $4 million. The University told me that by August or September an MoU will have to be signed but they indicated that if we are not able to clear the debt by then, they might withdraw from signing the MoU,” he said, adding that students there are not heckled as in UK.

This is not isolated to scholarships granted by the Secretariat as he revealed that bilateral scholarships in Algeria, Morocco, Russia, Cuba, Togo, Benin and other country are facing similar crisis.

“Due to the situation I’m unable to send out new students. I am rather devising means to clear the debt so that the students find the peace they need to study and come back to help the country with the acquired knowledge.”

Mr Asafo Agyei on that note urged the Asantehene to intervene to help calm the situation for the newly devised payment plan to be implemented.

“Though it borders around finance, we realised that the muscle of the government alone is not enough in this regard. We acknowledge that if Otumfuo intervenes the UK institutions will exercise patience with us. I have already been there to submit a payment plan but past experiences with the previous government makes it difficult for them to trust us.”

Payment Mode
For the debt, he said his outfit will be paying in three instalments.

Ten percent will first be paid in June with the rest spread from June to December.

Overhaul
Mr Asafo Agyei also informed His Majesty about the overhaul of the Secretariat into an Authority.

According to him, President John Dramani Mahama has constituted a 10-member committee to develop a framework for a scholarships legislation.

“When passed, the Secretariat will become Ghana Scholarship Authority.”

He said two percent of the total oil revenue and another percentage to be determined by the Board of GETFund will be used to fund it.

“It also gives us the opportunity to raise revenue internally,” he said.

He however objected to the designated two percent allocation, noting that it was inadequate.

“The debt doesn’t really tally with the current debt. We seek at least 5%,” he said and pleaded with the Monarch to intervene.

Awards
Otumfuo was aghast by the revelations and called for better measures to resolve the situation.

“How did we arrive at this huge debt? We have to review things around the scholarship.”

His Majesty was particular about the criteria for the award of the scholarships to study outside the country, affirming that it must cover programmes that are not offered domestically.

“There are a lot of universities in the country now. We should not offer scholarships for programmes that are already offered by universities in the country. Study abroad scholarships are not for showoffs. If someone wants to study abroad a programme we run here, let him fund it himself.”

On that note, Otumfuo counseled the Registrar to bring back such students to continue their studies.

Additionally, His Majesty stated that scholarship must be exclusively offered to brilliant but needy students.

“The scholarships must not be given to people who can fund their education but those from underprivileged homes yet excellent.”

Integrity
The Asantehene further counseled the Management to deliver their mandate with integrity and decorum.

“Don’t extort money from people in exchange for scholarships and make sure you don’t leave debt for your successor. Come together and use your expertise to help the Secretariat.”

Source: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/