RE: Ghanaian students turn beggars on the streets of Morocco

...as useless Embassy folds arms
In reference to an article published by mordernGhana on the 20th of August, 2013 with the above stated heading, as representatives of the Ghanaian Students’ Association in Morocco(GHASAM) , we see it imperative to issue a formal rejoinder to bring to light the truth and real facts at hand.
First and foremost we begin by saying the article deserves no merit and has been unanimously condemned by the entire student populace. It does not reflect the common opinion of the student body and even though there might be some undeniable facts within, we still maintain our stand that it is a total exaggeration and drifts from the issues at hand. We are really astonished by the level of unprofessionalism exhibited by the publisher in not being able to contact the leadership of the student body to ascertain various points raised. This is unethical , libelous and a taint on the image of journalism in Ghana.
To the facts, the academic scholarship offered to Ghanaian students by the Moroccan government has been in existence for a little over ten years. Access is gained through the scholarship secretariat and the Ghanaian embassy in Morocco serves as an intermediary in linking students to the secretariat.
As any other academic scholarship scheme, there are bound to be problems and as student leaders, we admit to the fact that there is more room for improvement in various aspects of the scholarship scheme. We can however state on authority that what we experience now is far better than what was before. We would hereby like to set the records straight on certain areas of the article that has been exaggerated and tends to send out the wrong signal Ever since assumption of office of H.E Clifford Nii Kotei as ambassador of the Republic of Ghana in Morocco, students have received the exact amount of stipends as stipulated in the award letters and this has been consistent till date.
This includes health allowances which have been transformed into an insurance fund ;an initiative to which the entire student body has lauded . To the issue of accommodation, we admit the scholarship secretariat and student leadership has fallen short in giving a comprehensive orientation to students before arriving in Morocco. This has contributed to the strain on the finances of most students particularly in cases where out of that same amount given for upkeep, students have to pay high prices for accommodation.
This impact is mostly felt by first years who arrive and have little or no knowledge about the situation and would need much finances, perseverance and encouragement to endure the situation. However, over the years, efforts have been made by the student leadership and students residing in the capital to facilitate the settling of first years .
There have been few cases where students have been arrested as a result of them not having their national identity cards with them on expiration of their visas. This, as a result of inability to get access to decent and affordable accommodation for the issuing of legal contracts(to be used for the identity cards) by landlords. However, in all such cases, the Ghanaian embassy in Morocco has acted promptly in instant release of all such persons.
The general issue of accommodation has been a problem that has persisted for years, with various efforts being made to remedy this situation .This includes a petition for increase in our stipends which we believe would be very effective in improving the problem by having decent accommodation (especially for our first years) from agencies where we are assured of access to various legal documentations on time. We would like to use your medium to re-echo that , the student leadership and Ghanaian embassy here have been very concerned with this particular problem and continues to do everything possible to get a permanent solution.
Over the past three years, the student-embassy relationship has been one of the best ever witnessed ;all under the leadership of H.E Clifford Nii Kotei. Unlike other sister embassies where visits by students are quite regulated, the embassy of Ghana in Morocco has been so welcoming to the students. Amongst other African diplomats in Morocco, H.E Nii Kotei has distinguished himself as one of the very few who shows up frequently at programs organized by students.
Ghanaian students in Morocco can boldly say in cases of need of various documents, the embassy proved to be very helpful although there are sometimes delays which can logically be understood by reason of their nature of work. It is in matters involving money that the embassy might have to do some consultations with the scholarship secretariat for approval. It is then extremely preposterous and callous for anyone to create the impression of an unconcerned ambassador.
We as an association condemn this and give praise where it is due. In relation to courses of study, on completion of the language year, students are then allowed to choose afresh various courses, with most of them re- choosing courses that were accorded them during the process of selection back in Ghana. It must be noted that, there is a large number of countries on academic scholarship in Morocco, aside Moroccans themselves.
For most of the competitive courses, a quota is given to each country. It is on this basis that most students, even though selected back home in Ghana to pursue some courses fail to have access to them here. In such a case, the embassy through its diplomatic influence can lobby and persuade(but can not force) for a greater quota for such courses and thus offers to students meriting it. It is therefore a blatant lie to infer that one has to have connections in the ruling Government before being able to read such courses.
Then we suppose all medical and business administration students here are connected to people in the ruling government!!!This logic just doesn’t hold especially when we know that most of these people actually deserve the various courses they are pursuing. We admit that this form of disappointment could be avoided by various parties involved in this scholarship scheme having talks and agreeing to the actual number of students for each program before they finally accept the reward of scholarship letters.
In relation to duration of courses and accreditation, the writer has ridiculously shown his/her ignorance on knowledge of the term of various courses and how they are accredited back home in Ghana. A little bit of patience and the pain to investigate could probably save him/her such embarrassment. In brief, we study in the francophone system and know the equivalent of whatsoever certificate we have in our own Anglophone system. Time and space would not permit us explain everything in details, but what we can say is, there are several colleagues back home who are fairly satisfied with the worth of their various certificates and it takes just a matter of contacting them to clear any doubts.
In conclusion, the said article published on the modernghana page to which we write this rejoinder, is clearly full of exaggerations. In recent years, the embassy of Ghana in Morocco has been very supportive of the student body and still improving on that cordial relationship. All payments of monies agreed on in our various award letters have been consistent. We once again state categorically that all has not been rosy especially in terms of our finances in relation to our accommodation crises, thus still counting on the scholarship secretariat to improve on this situation.
They have also been supportive and co-operative in issues concerning students and we hope that cooperation shall remain. We however maintain that Ghanaian students are not beggars and are living decently in the Kingdom of Morocco. There is no iota of truth in saying that we have gone to the extent of being beggars. Propagandists can translate this rejoinder as being influenced by various authorities affected, but the Ghanaian Students’ Association of Morocco(GHASAM) has a voice of its own.
We stand for the truth and no one persuades nor pushes us in so doing. We appeal to all media outfits to maintain high levels of ethics in journalism by consulting various parties involved before publishing whatever story they have in their possession, especially ones that have the tendency of affecting one’s reputation. The student leadership is ever willing to sacrifice its resources into ensuring that nothing but the truth goes out. Thank you all. Long live GHASAM, Long live GHANA. Frederick Miller
(Signed)
President of GHASAM-(00212607002619)
Emmanuel Kitcher
(Signed)
Vice President(00212634927975)
Dzifa Afi Nyawutor
(Signed)
General Secretary(00212607038994)
Naomi Odei Tagoe
(Signed)
Financial Secretary(00212607039008)
Stephen Afoakwa
(Signed)
PRO (00212607362639)