Government to ban political appointees from accessing state scholarships
President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed his government’s intention to introduce legislation aimed at reforming the administration of government scholarships and barring political appointees from benefiting from them.
Speaking during a national address on Wednesday, May 7, to give an account of his performance in the first 120 days in office, President Mahama emphasized that the proposed bill will be presented to Parliament as part of broader efforts to promote transparency, fairness, and integrity in the allocation of state-sponsored scholarships.
He noted that the move is designed to eliminate political patronage and reduce corruption in the scholarship system, ensuring that opportunities are awarded based on merit and genuine need.
"To ensure fairness and transparency and eliminates political patronage and corruption in awarding government scholarships, we promise to lay before parliament a new bill to streamline administration and prohibit political appointees from accessing government scholarships," he said.
"Cabinet has given policy approval for the new scholarships authority bill to be laid before parliament to fulfill this promise. I hope parliament will consider and pass this bill expeditiously when it resumes sitting. This bill will establish the Ghana Scholarships Authority, a fair and transparent system focused on needy and deserving students and national development priority areas," he stressed.
Regarding the One Million Coders Programme, the President highlighted it as a cornerstone initiative for building a digitally inclusive, data-driven economy.
He said the programme aims to equip one million young Ghanaians with essential digital skills tailored for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) industries.
"The pilot training began in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono, and Upper East regions. The technology sector is a key pillar of Ghana's economic reset, and we're taking bold steps to equip our youth to be the future of work," he explained.
