The Director-General of the Ghana Scholarship Authority, Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, has rejected claims circulating online that foreign nationals are benefiting from Ghana’s scholarship programme, insisting that the individuals referenced in the controversy are Ghanaians who meet the scheme’s eligibility requirements.

Responding to the allegations in a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr Asafo-Agyei described the claims as inaccurate and intended to mislead the public about how the scholarship system operates.

“The claim that the beneficiaries in question are Canadian citizens is false. The individuals being referenced are Ghanaians by birth and parentage,” he stated.

He explained that Ghanaian citizenship is the primary condition for accessing scholarships administered by the authority and said the beneficiaries cited in the reports satisfy that requirement.

“The attempt to portray them as ‘Canadians benefiting from Ghanaian scholarships’ is therefore deliberately misleading and unsupported by facts,” he added.

The Director-General also used the statement to clarify how the national scholarship scheme is structured, noting that it is not limited only to financially disadvantaged students as is often assumed.

According to him, the authority applies three different pathways when awarding scholarships, including financial need, national priority programmes and merit-based selection.

“The Ghana Scholarship Authority operates a three-tier framework for the award of scholarships: financial need (needy but brilliant), national priority for programmes critical to Ghana’s development, and merit-based selection,” he explained.

“It is therefore intellectually dishonest to create the impression that any beneficiary who does not fall within the ‘needy but brilliant’ category is undeserving.”

Providing further details on the programme, Mr Asafo-Agyei said the authority had earmarked 5,000 scholarships for the 2026 academic cycle.

“For the 2026 scholarship cycle, 5,000 scholarships have been earmarked. Out of this number, 2,000 are specifically reserved for the ‘needy but brilliant’ category,” he stated.

He said the remaining slots would be awarded under the merit and national priority categories in accordance with established guidelines.

Mr Asafo-Agyei stressed that the authority’s assessment process focuses strictly on eligibility criteria rather than an applicant’s background or perceived social connections.

“The duty of the Authority is straightforward – to determine whether an applicant is Ghanaian and whether the applicant satisfies the established selection criteria,” he noted.

“Once those criteria are met under the applicable category, the Authority has no legal or administrative basis to deny an applicant simply because of speculation about family connections or background.”

He also addressed arguments that scholarships should only be granted for courses unavailable in Ghana, explaining that such claims are based on provisions that were not legally in force at the time the awards under discussion were granted.

“The argument being advanced relies on provisions from a legislative framework which, at the time the scholarships in question were awarded, had not yet come into force,” he said.

Mr Asafo-Agyei noted that the legislation governing the authority was passed in November 2025 and assented to in December the same year, making it incorrect to apply those provisions retrospectively.

The Director-General further dismissed claims that scholarships were being sold or improperly traded, describing such allegations as unsupported.

“The Ghana Scholarship Authority operates a documented and structured application and evaluation system. Allegations of corruption must be backed by credible evidence and presented to the appropriate investigative authorities rather than propagated through speculation,” he stated.

Reaffirming his commitment to protecting the credibility of the institution, Mr Asafo-Agyei said the authority would continue to operate with transparency and professionalism under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama.

“Let me state unequivocally that, so long as I remain the Director-General of the Ghana Scholarship Authority, neither my integrity nor the well-redeemed reputation of the Authority will be compromised,” he said.

He added that the authority would soon publish additional records covering scholarship beneficiaries between 2016 and 2024 as part of efforts to enhance transparency and make information more accessible to the public.