Martin Kbebu, a private legal practitioner, has called on the government to enforce stringent laws and regulations governing the allocation of public scholarships.
His call follows widespread public outcry directed at the Scholarship Secretariat over allegations of awarding scholarships to individuals deemed financially affluent.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Kpebu stressed the importance of implementing clear rules to oversee the distribution of public scholarships, thereby guaranteeing the equitable utilization of public funds.
He suggested that these rules should be designed in a way that those responsible for administering these scholarships would face penalties if the scholarships were not awarded to the right individuals.
“It’s been well articulated by various government appointees, ministers of education, etcetera that government policy is to give scholarships to brilliant but needy students. So that is what it is. But it appears that looking at what we have now, it will make sense to expand, and have more regulations on it.
“So things like, if we were to find out that the scholarship secretariat gives out scholarships to people who don’t meet their criteria, the chief executive will be sacked, You know, things that make it more biting.
“But so far, what we are learning is that we need a more expansive act that will have direct consequences for the chief executive. If you do this, you are out of the door. I think with that, it will be more biting because for Kingsley Agyemang to say that no, for him, all he’s aware of is that he should be a Ghanaian and have a recommendation. That tells you a lot of what is going on,” he stated.
Martin Kpebu also called on Members of Parliament (MPs) to sponsor a bill to revise the existing regulations of the Scholarship Secretariat to make them more robust.
“Private Members can start because the government often doesn’t act fast when it deals with matters that don’t directly bring votes. At least when the MPs start from the private member’s bill later the government can join but at least the conversation can continue,” he said.
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