First, I am disappointed, and I will not hide it, I am disappointed that prudence, diligence and integrity failed again in contracts and in the management of the good intentions of men. not merely in the execution of contracts, but in the very stewardship of the good intentions of men.
What began as a vision to uplift students through opportunity is collapsing into silence, shame, and near ruin. It is not just an institutional failure it is a betrayal of trust, a disgraceful erasure of promise, and a reminder that when leadership is careless, the cost is always borne by the young and powerless.
How does a mere secretariat, not the ministry of education manage to owe more than $4 million to just one university in the United States, how were students been sent in to study when the debts were accumulating? Of the many people I’ve engaged, several have asked why documentation was issued to students despite outstanding debts, and why students were allowed to travel when there was a change of government.
My honest response? A change in government should never be a reason to derail the dreams of Ghanaian students who aspire to study abroad.
As I was telling my friend from Anthony, who now a spokesperson for the presidency, I have long admired the President’s communication style. I’ve followed his work since our days at the University of Ghana, when he presented his book My First Coup D’état at the Department of English with Prof. Anyidoho. I told my friend that one of the President’s most powerful speeches, in my view, was at the 71st United Nations General Assembly in 2015.
In that address, he compellingly told the story of immigration and pushed back against the narrative of pity toward Africa emphasizing instead the importance of collaboration and partnerships for sustainable growth. And indeed, it is through these collaborations and partnerships that we are seeing growth on the continent. The collaborations between the government and research institutions have birthed impacts we cannot measure.
It genuinely frustrates me how some people continue to downplay the importance of international exposure and experiences. It’s as if they don’t see the value in broadening one’s perspective beyond national borders in learning from different cultures, systems, and ways of thinking. For me, international education and collaboration are not luxuries; they are necessities in today’s interconnected world.
The idea that studying abroad or engaging in global networks is somehow indulgent or irrelevant to national development. This mindset is not only shortsighted, but also dangerous. Countries that thrive are those that embrace the global stage, build partnerships, and empower their youth to bring back knowledge and networks that can transform their communities.
It was through exposure to global ideas, political philosophies, and anti-colonial movements that many of Africa’s founding fathers found the intellectual fuel and strategic tools to challenge colonial domination and envision a liberated continent. Our first President, Kwame Nkrumah studied in the United States, attending Lincoln University and later the University of Pennsylvania. There, he was deeply influenced by Pan-Africanist thinkers like W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, as well as the civil rights movement. His time abroad allowed him to understand the intersections of race, power, and colonialism from a global perspective.
He immersed himself in political theory, studied socialist models, and engaged with fellow diasporans and African students forming unions for our liberation. And the aftermath? he moved to London, where he co-founded the Pan-African Federation and helped organize the Fifth Pan-African Congress in 1945 alongside figures like George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Hastings Bandaof Malawi. These experiences were very critical in shaping a united front against colonial rule and building networks of solidarity across Africa and the diaspora.
In May this year, I briefly met during a photo session with the newly appointed Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat on laying before parliament the Scholarship bill to streamline the governments expenditure of international education and scholarships, to me it was a great idea because it was going to address the scandals that comes with scholarships in Ghana because no one is saint when it comes it the issue of scholarship, not even government appointees and the wealthy. But now when leadership has failed in managing a partnership that was created by His Majesty the Otumfuo Osei tutu II, we do not need a bill! We need leadership! Leadership should be able to communicate with the affected Universities on next steps, payment plans and progress of the partnerships that has been created.
And like we say in Public Administration, political transitions, machinery of government must continue functioning regardless of changes in leadership or ruling party. I believe the registrar has on his heart to reset his secretariat and takes to heart the progress of the institution he heads because one day, not only will Ghanaians see the work he has done, but his party folks and consider him for something greater on the chess board.
As Winston Churchill puts it “the opposition occupies the benches in front of you, but the enemy sits behind you”. And as I have heard many say that the previous NPP government deliberately selected its own party members to study in Memphis through government-supported scholarships, and that as a result, the new government should not be obligated to honor any financial commitments related to those students. On the surface, this claim may serve a political narrative, but it lacks both fairness and facts. And perhaps the most sobering irony is this and maybe the Registrar noticed when he visited the University of Memphis, if indeed the NPP intended to sponsor its members for education, then the party failed woefully in planning for them.
There was no clear roadmap for sustaining their academic journeys no structured policy, no lasting framework for continuity. The absence of a sustainable funding mechanism, or clear government commitment shows that, sadly, this was not a coordinated effort to build party capacity through international education. It was a missed opportunity.
The critical next step is to actively engage with the universities involved, especially the University of Memphis. Strengthening this collaboration is essential, as Ghana’s international relations and reputation are at stake., communicate with the university administrators, develop scholarship framework that clearly defines the eligible programs, qualification criteria, and potential growth and assimilation pathways for recipients.
