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Youth Development and Empowerment Minister George Opare Addo has vowed to end decades of abuse in Ghana’s scholarship system, describing the current structure as chaotic and likening it to a “tomato market” where opportunities are handed out based on personal connections rather than merit.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, the minister said a new scholarship bill currently before Parliament seeks to introduce transparency, fairness, and uniformity in how scholarships are awarded, following damning investigations by The Fourth Estate into widespread irregularities.
“How scholarships were administered was like selling tomatoes in the market,” Opare Addo remarked. “People would just go and say, ‘Ah, let me pay ¢10 or ¢20.’”
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According to Opare Addo, the root of the problem lies in the absence of standardised procedures, which allowed personal connections to outweigh academic merit or financial need. He noted that scholarships meant for “brilliant but needy” students or those meant to fill national manpower gaps—such as in the oil and gas sector—were instead misallocated.
“We did not have a standard procedure for administering scholarships—it was about whom you know,” he stressed. “The committee I chaired, with Haruna Iddrisu as co-chair, set out to fix the chaos.”
He criticised the fragmentation of scholarship administration in Ghana, with entities like GNPC, GETFund, and the Scholarship Secretariat all running their own schemes. The new bill proposes a centralised scholarship fund to consolidate resources and create a uniform system.
“We need a regime where, if GNPC and GETFund have funding, it is pooled into one scholarship fund and managed by a central authority,” he said, adding, “It is not appropriate for GNPC to be administering scholarships when a national body exists.”
Opare Addo revealed that Ghana has never had a proper scholarship law since independence—a legal gap that has allowed unregulated disbursement of public funds.
The new bill, he explained, will set clear eligibility criteria, standardise application processes, and restrict the awarding of scholarships for foreign programs already offered in Ghanaian universities.
“Why sponsor someone to study business administration abroad when we have one of the best business schools in the sub-region at Legon?” he asked. “What message are we sending about confidence in our own institutions?”
The minister noted that the bill could allow scholarships to cover programs in private Ghanaian universities such as Ashesi, especially where they offer specialised courses not available at public institutions.
“Why should I send a student out of Ghana when Ashesi can do it? Why not give the money to a Ghanaian entrepreneur and keep it circulating within Ghana?”
Ultimately, Opare Addo said the reform is about ensuring value for money, maintaining confidence in Ghana’s education system, and empowering deserving students.
“We are not just fixing the system; we’re protecting public funds, restoring fairness, and investing in national development,” he concluded.
The new scholarship bill is currently under consideration in Parliament and, if passed, will mark a historic overhaul of Ghana’s scholarship landscape, ending what many have described as decades of abuse and inefficiency.
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