A Research Fellow at the Hans Ruthenberg Institute, University of Hohenheim, Sulemana Issifu, has made damning allegations concerning the Scholarship Secretariat.

During an interview on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme, he revealed instances where students purportedly paid significant sums of money to secure scholarships.

According to Issifu, some students claimed they paid exorbitant amounts, such as £5,000 in exchange for the promise of a £40,000 scholarship.

Read More: We need a law to regulate who qualifies for scholarship and who doesn’t – Scholarship Secretariat Registrar

His revelation raises concerns about corruption and nepotism within the Secretariat.

“Students tell me that they pay huge sums of money. Some have told me that they pay as much as £5,000 in order to get a scholarship of £40,000,” he told host Samson Lardy Anyenini.

He said students also allege they paid up to ₵30,000 solely for a letter from the Scholarship Secretariat, which served as a guarantee for obtaining a visa.

This practice, he suggested, hinted at a larger issue of visa racketeering.

"The problems associated with the Scholarship Secretariat are enormous. There is a problem of nepotism. I’ve seen some individuals who have PhDs and they have still been offered scholarships by the Scholarship Secretariat to go do another PhD.

“So these are cases whereby there are many young Ghanaians who do not have the money to even get a first degree, but some have the luxury of doing a second PhD all under monies provided with our taxes,” he said on Saturday.

Conversations surrounding nepotism at the Scholarship Secretariat resuscitated after an investigative piece by the Fourth Estate, ‘Scholarship Bonanza’, named persons close to key government officials as beneficiaries of scholarships that it deems inappropriate.

Notably, children of the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and a former Inspector General of Police were listed among the beneficiaries.

Many people have since condemned the act and asked for the Secretariat to be transparent. However, the Registrar maintains the secretariat did nothing wrong.