God will hear the cry of the poor – Archbishop Kwofie on latest scholarship scandal

Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie has described as a “crime” against humanity the recent revelations of corruption and mismanagement within the Government of Ghana Scholarship Secretariat.

Expressing deep concern, Archbishop Kwofie emphasised the need for justice and accountability in the distribution of educational opportunities in the country saying that “When you sit on the money for the poor, they will cry and God will hear them.”

Speaking at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Sapeiman, on Divine Mercy Sunday, the prelate said, “Some news came up in the social media about scholarships that are offered by the Government of Ghana. I quote, some people pay bribes to get the scholarship. Students’ tuition fees and living expenses, and allowances aren’t paid. If paid, not on time. Some through corrupt means, get the scholarship award and don’t even report to the school. Ghost names appear to bloat the number on the register etc.”

The Archbishop recounted a personal encounter with a young man whose scholarship was unjustly withdrawn despite meeting all the requirements.

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“The scholarship was withdrawn after he had met all the requirements by the same people who awarded him the scholarship. He came back to Ghana and on a number of occasions, asked me to intervene on his behalf because, in Ghana, it is whom you know,” he lamented.

Questioning the integrity of the scholarship selection process, Archbishop Kwofie raised concerns about the discrepancy between the stated objectives of the government scholarships and their actual implementation.

“The first of the 5 objectives of the government scholarship is to ‘Award scholarships to needy but brilliant students in second cycle institutions based on merit and hardship. However, the well-to-do people and their wards are those who are attracting the scholarship. This must stop,” Archbishop Kwofie said.

Drawing attention to the moral imperative of addressing social injustice, Archbishop Kwofie admonished the scholarship secretariat and related agencies for betraying the trust of the Ghanaian people.

“When the objective is more than the needy and brilliant students, the purpose is defeated. This is the crime of the scholarship secretariat. This is a crime of Getfund and others in the same domain,” Archbishop Kwofie said..

His comments come after an investigative piece conducted by The Fourth Estate discovered that influential people as well as children, relatives and associates of powerful figures were awarded scholarships against the Scholarship Secretariat’s primary purpose of providing local and foreign scholarships to academically gifted but financially needy students.

Initially denied access to the beneficiary list by the Scholarship Secretariat in March 2021, The Fourth Estate persisted, invoking the Right to Information (RTI) Commission.

The RTI Commission ruled in favour of disclosure, asserting that since the scholarships were funded with public money, transparency was paramount. However, personal information is to be redacted before the data is released.

The Scholarship Secretariat’s response to the RTI request showed that it had spent GHS237.5 million and GHS200 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively, covering both foreign and local scholarships.