The Lebanese Community in Ghana has awarded scholarships to eight students of the Ghana School of Law, Makola, for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The initiative forms part of the Community’s longstanding support for education and its efforts to expand scholarship opportunities for students at the Ghana School of Law.

The beneficiaries are Richard Adjei Kyeremateng, Stephen Menya-Amoako, Esther Josephine Boateng Agyenim and Esther Dzifa Dogbe from Year One, as well as Maame Ekua Otenewaa Oduro, Dion Akosua Kassim, Emenyo Afi Nutakor and Keren Sackey from Year Two.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Lebanese Ambassador to Ghana, Fouad Khazzaka, said the programme reflects Lebanon’s longstanding belief in education as a driver of development.

“This educational initiative reflects Lebanon's historic vocation as a land of culture, knowledge and learning,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of the rule of law, describing it as a foundation for building stable societies and states.

“Law serves as a safeguard of justice, liberty and peace. As a legal professional myself, I am particularly pleased to support young people in this important profession,” he added.

Ambassador Khazzaka urged the beneficiaries to approach their studies with diligence, integrity and determination.

“Your education will prepare you to become the lawyers, judges and legal scholars upon whom Ghana's future will depend,” he said.

He also commended the Ghana School of Law for its contribution to training legal professionals who have played significant roles in Ghana’s democratic development.

Call for more beneficiaries

Acting Director of People, Talent and Culture at the Ghana School of Law, Mrs Louisa Condobery-Asamoah, praised the Lebanese Community for its continued investment in education.

She said the scholarship programme would contribute to Ghana’s legal profession in the long term by supporting the training of more lawyers.

While acknowledging the expansion of the programme in recent years, she appealed to the Lebanese Community to consider extending the support to more students.

A representative of the Lebanese Community, Naaman Ashkar, said the initiative had been a fulfilling undertaking over the past 13 years.

He said the Community remained committed to strengthening the relationship between Lebanon and Ghana while exploring additional opportunities to support young Ghanaians pursuing higher education.

Beneficiary speaks

One of the beneficiaries, Maame Ekua Otenewaa Oduro, expressed appreciation for the support, saying it would help the students acquire the training needed to contribute to society as legal professionals.

She said the Community’s continued support had encouraged law students to pursue academic excellence while promoting the importance of the rule of law.

“The Lebanese Community, by their continuing gesture of motivating students of law to strive for academic excellence, have showcased their adherence to upholding the rule of law in Ghana as they have recognised that law is the fibre that holds our society together and heals societal rifts,” she said.

The programme is also intended to deepen educational and cultural cooperation between Ghana and Lebanon.

Ambassador Khazzaka called for more cultural and educational activities to strengthen people-to-people relations between the two countries.

The Lebanese Community launched an alumni network for the scholarship programme in 2024 to support further humanitarian initiatives.

Since its establishment in 2012, the Lebanese Community Scholarship Programme has provided scholarships, prizes and other academic support to more than 600 students from the University of Media, Arts and Communications (UniMAC), the University of Ghana, the Ghana School of Law and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Its beneficiaries have pursued programmes in law, journalism, public relations, film and television, languages and performing arts.