Ghanaian student studying in the United States of America, Derrick Boadi Sakyi, has his scholarship withdrawn due to his involvement in hateful attacks against LGBT Ghanaians on Twitter.
The attacks came to light when a Ghanaian LGBT activist, known as Papa Kojo, exposed them after receiving a threat from Sakyi.
Papa Kojo’s investigation revealed that Sakyi had recently commenced a PhD program in Biological Science at Ohio University in the United States on a scholarship. However, it was later discovered that the scholarship was intended for LGBTQIA+ community members, applicants from the Global South, first-generation students, and people with disabilities.
Upon realizing this contradiction, Papa Kojo informed the university about the attack he received from Sakyi, providing evidence of other abusive and hateful posts made by Sakyi against the LGBT community in Ghana. Subsequently, the scholarship was withdrawn as a consequence of his actions.
He wrote on Twitter: “One guy sent me death threats and I just checked his profile. He’s been inciting hate for years…in one of his most recent tweet, he confessed setting up gay men to be beaten and blackmailed and said if Ama allows him to correctively rape her, he’ll get her to the bar.
“I’ve found his name and details on LinkedIn and he moved to the US two weeks ago to start a PhD in Ohio. I want everyone to hold on tight because this TL is about to get bloody messy af in the coming days. 😂,”
In response to his letter to the university, he learned that Sakyi’s scholarship had been put on hold while a review was conducted.
“Stay away from progressive funding and scholarships if you’re a homophobe. Apply to Iran, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan since you love oppression so bad,” Papa Kojo captioned his new post.