UK/Ireland High Commissioner Sarbah Zita Benson has given a detailed account of alleged corruption at the Scholarship Secretariat during the administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In a video shared on Threads and sighted by GhanaWeb on August 12, 2026, Zita Benson disclosed that individuals who were awarded scholarships to further their studies in the United Kingdom often had their spouses and children sponsored under the scheme at no cost.
According to her, she was shocked after going through documents she obtained when she assumed office, detailing how the former Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat allegedly allowed such practices to continue.
Further detailing the allegations, she explained that the children and spouses of scholarship beneficiaries were paid to join them in the UK while they pursued their studies.
“All these are scholarship documents that I received from the Ghana Scholarship [Secretariat]. I cringed reading these documents. The rot that happened under the former Registrar. This particular one is one woman. I don’t want to mention names. I’ll say, Princess. She gets a scholarship and goes with her three children.
“The children are paid to come and stay with their mother to study, and her spouse, her husband. And so, this one, for instance, has three children. She is enrolled in a master’s degree programme.”
Further citing documents containing the allegations, Zita Benson disclosed that the children and spouses of scholarship beneficiaries also received medical coverage and other benefits allegedly worth about £90,000.
She also claimed that each of the children of the scholarship recipients received about £8,160 as financial support while accompanying their parents.
“She gets paid for the master’s programme with stipends. Her husband gets paid to come and support his wife in studying. Together with their three children, that’s another child.
“I’ll tell you, they pay for their welfare. So for the four, their visas, yellow card, yellow fever card, ticket, comes to about £90,000. And every month, the three children, their husband, everybody – not all of them – each gets £8,160 to support the mother to study.”
Sarbah Zita Benson also called on the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) to investigate the allegations and ensure that individuals found culpable refund every penny allegedly taken from the fund.
“That is why NIB must move fast, make arrests, and make people pay for this. People must be funded. If you get a scholarship and you think that you are a wife and you are not ready to move away from your husband or your children, then they stay in Ghana and study,” she added.
www.ghanaweb.com
Spouses, children received £8,160 and health benefit – Zita ‘exposes’ alleged scholarship scandal
