Scholarship Secretariat under investigation since July 2023 – OSP

On April 12, 2024, 5:09 AM

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has revealed that it has been investigating the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat since July 2023.

“The Office of the Special Prosecutor commenced investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences at the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat circa July 2023. The investigation is active and ongoing”.

These comments were contained in a letter addressing a complaint titled ‘Report of Suspected Corruption and Corruption-Related Offences in the award of Scholarships by the Registrar of Ghana Scholarship Secretariat- Kingsley Oppong Agyeman’.

This follows a petition submitted by the Deputy National Youth Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Osman Ayariga, to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to investigate the Scholarship Secretariat over alleged corruption and corruption-related offences following the recent scandal involving the awarding of scholarships.

This comes at the back of various reports of arbitrary and biased awarding of scholarships by the secretariat.

Mr Ayariga urged the OSP to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the activities of the Registrar and other secretariat staff members regarding the scholarship allocation process and apply sanctions where officials have broken the rules.

In his formal petition submitted to the OSP on Tuesday, April 9, Mr Ayariga emphasised the urgency of the investigation to ensure that scholarships are awarded fairly to deserving Ghanaian students rather than individuals with political connections or affluence.

The Scholarship Secretariat has been in the news over the past week following an investigation which revealed that scholarships were offered to individuals from affluent homes and politically connected persons.

These individuals include the daughter of former NPP National Chairman Freddie Blay and the deputy executive director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Gifty Oware-Mensah.

Relatives of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta have also been beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme.

In 2020, The Ghana Report established a link between Mr Ofori-Atta and one of such beneficiaries.

Story By Will Agyapong