Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sabah Zita Benson, has raised concerns over the management of government scholarship funds under the previous administration, alleging that significant amounts of public money were spent on expenses linked to dependants of scholarship beneficiaries.
In a series of Facebook posts, Ms Benson claimed that the spending contributed to the accumulation of outstanding tuition fees and allowances owed to Ghanaian students studying in the United Kingdom.
She cited instances where spouses and children of scholarship beneficiaries allegedly received financial support and travel-related benefits in addition to the funding provided to the actual scholarship recipients.
In one case, she alleged that a beneficiary’s spouse and three children each received £8,160, while the family’s airfare reportedly cost the government about GH¢90,000.
The High Commissioner questioned the rationale behind such expenditure, arguing that funds used to support dependants could instead have been directed towards settling unpaid tuition fees and stipends owed to Ghanaian scholarship students.
Ms Benson further alleged that outstanding tuition fees and stipends accumulated between 2020 and 2025 had exceeded £37 million.
She also cited a separate case involving a government scholarship reportedly awarded to a 16-year-old student to attend a private secondary school in the UK, at a cost she claimed was more than £56,000.
Another example she provided involved an alleged expenditure of GH¢90,420 on visa fees, tuberculosis screening and airfare for two students and the spouse of one beneficiary.
Her comments come amid concerns over delayed scholarship payments and reports of planned protests by some Ghanaian scholarship students in the UK.
Responding to the situation, Ms Benson argued that the current government inherited significant financial obligations from the previous administration and is working to clear the outstanding commitments.
She said the government had already paid £3 million towards the arrears in the previous year, settled first-quarter obligations for the current year and was processing payments for the second quarter.
The High Commissioner maintained that the government remains committed to settling the outstanding scholarship-related debts while ensuring greater accountability and prudent management of public funds.