Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, H.E. Sabah Zita Benson, has revealed that the government owes UK universities more than £35.7 million in unpaid scholarship fees, a crisis that has left dozens of Ghanaian students stranded and unable to continue their studies.
She disclosed this when she received a delegation of affected students from Loughborough University, who were admitted under the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat but have allegedly not had their fees paid since enrollment.
The High Commissioner said 17 students from the university alone were owed £491,597.98, covering admissions from 2022 to 2024.
According to her, the debt results from actions under the former Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat, who reportedly issued scholarship awards across multiple years without paying tuition or stipends to beneficiaries.
She broke down the accumulated arrears as follows, £133,080 – 2021/2022 academic year, £2,307,113.27 – 2022/2023 academic year,
£18,668,157.08 – 2023/2024 academic year, £14,678,060.08 – 2024/2025 academic year. This totals £35,787,410.39 in outstanding payments to UK institutions.
The High Commissioner noted that the current administration has so far settled £3 million, leaving an estimated £32 million unpaid, with many Ghanaian students caught in the aftermath. She added that allegations of scholarship award letters being sold under the former CEO are now under investigation by the Scholarship Secretariat and the Ministry of Education.
Due to the massive debt, no new students have been admitted this year under the scholarship scheme for the UK.
“Until this debt is cleared, we are unable to admit new students,” she stated, urging students to remain patient as the investigations proceed.
The Mission says it is unable to financially intervene and awaits the outcome of the probe.
Source: kumasimail.com
