Former Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, has unleashed scathing criticism against the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, accusing it of lacking clear guidelines for awarding scholarships and favouring politically connected individuals.
The allegations surfaced following an investigation conducted by The Fourth Estate, revealing instances where scholarships meant for financially disadvantaged students were instead granted to relatives of prominent political figures, including Freddie Blay, former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and David Asante Apeatu, former Inspector General of Police.
One such case involved Gifty Oware-Mensah (formerly Oware-Aboagye), who received a government scholarship worth GBP18,450 to study at the University of Birmingham in 2020.
Notably, she secured the scholarship three years after assuming the role of Deputy Executive Director at the National Service Secretariat. Additionally, in the same year, she acquired Berry Ladies FC, a women’s football club competing in Ghana’s premier league.
Domelevo, speaking on JoyNews on April 8, 2024, stressed the importance of transparency and adherence to established guidelines in public service.
“In our audit report, one of our concerns was that according to the law, the monies should be given to the Scholarship Secretariat for them to administer, but then GETFund was administering it themselves.
“I am told that has changed, so the money has been given to the Scholarship Secretariat, who, from my point of view, is administering scholarships 24/7. But if this is how they are administering scholarships, then they are a complete waste. It is better if we scrap it. Not just waste; they are useless.
He lamented the absence of clear criteria to determine scholarship eligibility, calling for urgent reforms to ensure compliance with the law and fairness in the allocation process.
“I wish I had a harsher word for them because 24/7 that is what they do, and they have not been able to come up with any guidelines to determine who qualifies for this to ensure they are within the remit of the law,” myjoyonline.com quoted him to have said.