A Research Fellow at the Hans Ruthenberg Institute, University of Hohenheim, Sulemana Issifu, has revealed instances where Ghanaian graduates purportedly paid significant sums of money to obtain consent letters from the Scholarship Secretariat to enable them to remain abroad after completing their studies.  

Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile, Mr Issifu outlined the troubling scenario where graduates sponsored by the government to study abroad were required to return and contribute to the development of the country.

However, some graduates reportedly sought consent letters from the Scholarship Secretariat to extend their stay in foreign countries. Mr Issifu claimed that these graduates paid as much as £3000 to the Scholarship Secretariat for the issuance of such consent letters.

“Under normal circumstances, if you are sponsored with state funds, you are required to come back and assist the country in one way or the other,” Mr Issifu explained.

“However, there are some graduates who, after completion, request a letter of consent from the Scholarship Secretariat to continue their stay in that particular country. So there are some graduates who are paying as much as £3,000 to the Scholarship Secretariat to get the consent letter.”

He further detailed the dire consequences of this alleged corruption, stating that graduates, instead of contributing to their homeland's development, ended up performing menial jobs such as janitorial work and serving in old age homes abroad.

“This is what our taxes are being used for, and someone sits at the Scholarship Secretariat to justify this. I wonder if such people have a conscience.”