FLASHBACK: My GETFund scholarship was to help me 'serve' you 'better' – Adwoa Safo

Back in February 2020, a list of government GETFund scholarship beneficiaries put out by the then Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, revealed that some politicians and their relatives over the years benefited from the scheme meant for brilliant but needy students in the country.

The then Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement and MP for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, was among the people who were named as beneficiaries of the scheme.

She was reported to have been awarded the sum of US$17,004.00 for tuition and an additional US$12,800.00 for living allowances for a training programme at Harvard Kennedy School.

Reacting to the publications, Ms Sarfo said that the “tone of the said publication” was “erroneous and smacks of an attempt to smear my reputation as a Member of Parliament and Minister of State and box me into a self-serving public official.”

The former Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament also indicated that the purpose of receiving the GETFund support, “was to attend a programme at the Harvard Kennedy School to enable me to serve my constituents, parliament and nation better” and urged the public to “disregard the said publication and treat it with the contempt it deserves.”

Apart from Adwoa Safo, the other appointees named by the Auditor-General’s report as beneficiaries included the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Dr Prince Armah, who issued a statement saying he was deserving of it; Education Minister, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, who also issued a statement saying he benefited from it in 2014 and not as a minister of state; and the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Barfour Awuah.

The revelation generated outrage among some Ghanaians on social media.

Fast-forward to 2024, and another report by The Fourth Estate has exposed another set of politicians who were beneficiaries of scholarships from the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, reigniting the discussion about the criteria used to award scholarships to students.

Click here to read the story originally published by classfmonline.com on February 24, 2020

ID/ ADG

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