Most state scholarship recipients do not return to serve Ghana – PAC

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Member of Parliament for Ketu North, James Klutse Avedzi, has expressed concern over the increasing trend of scholarship beneficiaries from public universities and technical universities failing to return to Ghana after studying abroad.

Speaking during a press briefing in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, where the PAC held its Zonal Public Hearing to consider the Auditor-General’s Financial Report for the year ending 2023, Mr Avedzi highlighted the issue.

He noted that many lecturers, who are sponsored by the government for PhD programmes abroad, choose to remain in their host countries instead of returning to serve in Ghana.

He said, “The challenge we have seen over the years, which still persists, is with the sponsorship given to lecturers who go abroad for their PhDs. The government sponsors and pays them, expecting them to return and serve, but they end up staying in their countries of study without coming back.”

Mr Avedzi urged the university management to implement a more effective guarantor system to ensure accountability. “We have been asking the management of universities to establish a guarantor system so that if these individuals do not return, the guarantor can be held responsible for refunding the money,” he explained.

He also pointed out that previous Auditor-General reports revealed cases where lecturers who benefitted from these scholarships refused to fulfil their bonds, with many not returning to serve their country.

In addition to this issue, the PAC Chairman raised concerns about unearned salaries, where individuals who have either passed away or vacated their positions continue to appear on the payroll. He cited a case where a lecturer at Accra Technical University received a double salary from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for 13 months, warning that such practices constitute a crime and will be addressed.

The PAC has reviewed reports from district assemblies, technical universities, colleges of education, and senior high schools from four regions: Volta, Oti, Greater Accra, and Eastern.