Parliament has been urged to halt consideration of the Ghana Scholarship Authority Bill, 2025, and allow for extensive stakeholder consultations before proceeding.
The bill, laid before the House by the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has been described by the minister and Majority MPs as a bold step to end years of nepotism and cronyism in the country’s scholarship awards system.
It proposes elevating the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to an authority — a more autonomous body expected to oversee the reforms.
But in a statement dated July 17, the Citizens’ Coalition, a group of public interest civil society organizations and eminent citizens, argued the bill risks entrenching the very issues it seeks to address.
“There is no known emergency in the management of scholarships that justifies the speedy consideration of this all-important bill without public consultation,” the statement read.
“The need for reform is undeniable. Yet the bill in its current form does not adequately address the structural weaknesses of the existing scholarships regime. Rather than remedying the prevailing opacity, nepotism, and political interference, it risks institutionalizing them.”
Signed by Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Eduwatch, Dr. Kojo Asante of CDD-Ghana, and investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, the group stressed that the proposed legislation falls short of establishing a transparent, accountable, and merit-based system.
“It is therefore imperative that Parliament allows sufficient time for meaningful consultations to be undertaken. A law that shapes access to academic and professional opportunities for generations of Ghanaians must not be passed in haste. It must be informed, inclusive, and legitimate.
“Given this background, we respectfully call on Parliament, particularly the Right Honourable Speaker, to suspend the current legislative process and allow stakeholder consultations on this important national reform,” the coalition said.
