Former President John Mahama is criticising the Scholarship Secretariat following claims it’s doling out scholarships to politically-connected and affluent individuals.

This follows a Fourth Estate expose detailing how over 400 million cedis worth of scholarships were awarded to persons with high political connections.

The report indicated that in 2019-2020, the Scholarship Secretariat spent at least £291,480, $146,502 (USD) and $7,685 (CAD) respectively on influential individuals and the associates of the political elite.

This revelation has resulted in some public outrage with the Scholarship Secretariat receiving massive backlash on social media.

Read also: Scholarships Bonanza: Freddie Blay & former IGP’s daughters among those who grabbed scholarships for the needy

Addressing a student forum at the Wisconsin University in Accra, the NDC flagbearer charged the secretariat to target more underprivileged and deserving applicants.

"From Prof. Mills' time till when I was in office, we skewed a lot of the scholarship to students who were going to learn about petroleum sector, oil management, oil sector law and so on and so forth. There are many students who got those scholarships and are back here in Ghana and working. And so we must draw the lines, we must have a minister like Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang who will make sure that the scholarships we are giving are scholarships that are relevant to the human resource development of this country.

"The scholarships must go to underprivileged people, young people who come from backgrounds which do not have the capacity to sponsor them. The social construct of the person’s origin should be taken into consideration before a scholarship is given," he said.

Read also: Scholarships bonanza: The powerful grab as double scholarships flow

His comment follows assertions by Prof Peter Quartey, the Director of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) that there should be stringent requirements for beneficiaries to return to the country to pass on their knowledge and skills.

In his interview with The Fourth Estate, Prof Quartey had noted that giving multiple scholarships to a single individual can only be justified if they were for courses that could not be undertaken in Ghana or for specialities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Read also: Scholarships Bonanza Part 3: How some are struggling while others received double

However, the Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat, Dr Kingsley Agyemang, insists that while some of the beneficiaries had the blessings of the Secretariat to stay abroad because they had secured jobs which could give them valuable work experience, others simply refused to return.

Touching on this, the former President said the next NDC government will adhere to the guidelines for granting scholarships.

"There are many of us who can afford to pay the fees of our children if we decide that they should go to university abroad and so we have no business going to the Scholarship Secretariat and asking for scholarships for our children.

"...And so we will have a person superintending over the Scholarship Secretariat that will make sure that the guidelines are implemented and that those getting the scholarship are deserving of those scholarships.”