Prince Komla Bansah, President of the Ghanaian PhD Cohort in the United Kingdom, has revealed that some Ghanaian scholarship beneficiaries are being hauled before UK courts by landlords over unpaid rent.
He blamed the situation on the government’s failure to pay stipends for the past 48 months, leaving many scholars unable to meet basic living expenses.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe on Sunday, December 7, Mr Bansah said the stipend crisis has pushed several PhD candidates into severe financial turmoil.
“Several of my colleagues from the PhD end, for instance, are facing all manner of court cases because they have defaulted on their rent payment, so they have been taken to court, and they are battling that out,” he disclosed.
He explained that the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat (GSS) previously issued guarantee letters to help students secure accommodation, but for the past ten months, no such letters have been provided. This, he said, has deepened the vulnerability of scholars who rely on those documents for housing arrangements.
The guarantee letter that is given to the student by the GSS has expired. We have spoken to the new Registrar to renew the letters because, in very extreme circumstances, some of the landlords can take the guarantee letters in place of the payment… but for more than 10 months now, we have not received any renewal letter,” he added.
Mr Bansah said the prolonged absence of stipends and support has forced some scholars to rely on food banks, while others are temporarily staying with friends.
His comments formed part of a broader discussion on Ghana’s outstanding scholarship-related debts. According to him, there is a current debt of £38 million ($50.6 million), inherited from the previous NPP administration under Dr Agyemang’s leadership, which continues to worsen conditions for Ghanaian students abroad.
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