Six Ghanaian Students at Loughborough University Protest Unpaid Government Scholarship Funding

Six Ghanaian postgraduate students at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom are set to stage a protest at the Ghana High Commission in London on Tuesday, demanding the settlement of nearly two years of unpaid tuition fees and living stipends that have left them in severe financial distress and threatened their ability to graduate.

The affected students – Noah Krah, Emmanuel Boakye, George Osei Buabeng, Abena Fosuaa Gyasi, Irene Pomaa Kumi and Dwomoh Evelyn – arrived in the UK in September 2024 under a government-sponsored scholarship programme. According to the group, the Government of Ghana has failed to pay any tuition fees or monthly stipends since their arrival, despite a clear commitment to cover these costs in full.

The Government of Ghana is committed to paying full tuition fees and monthly living stipends. However, since we arrived in the United Kingdom in September 2024, the Government has not paid any tuition fees or stipends, the students said in a statement issued on Monday.

The outstanding obligations owed to the university now amount to approximately GHS 3.4 million, based on the students’ accounts. The unpaid fees have led the institution to withhold key academic documents required for graduation, placing the students’ academic futures in serious jeopardy with a graduation date set for July 7, 2026.

The group described their experience as a prolonged ordeal marked by months of financial hardship, mounting uncertainty, and repeated assurances from government officials that have failed to materialise into actual payments. They said they have spent considerable time petitioning relevant authorities and seeking intervention through meetings and formal correspondence, but have seen little meaningful progress.

Having exhausted all available avenues, the students announced they would proceed with the demonstration at the Ghana High Commission in London, calling on the government to settle the outstanding tuition fees and stipend arrears immediately to allow them to complete their studies and graduate on schedule.

The protest is expected to renew broader concerns about the chronic delays in the administration and disbursement of government-funded scholarships for Ghanaian students studying abroad. For years, beneficiaries of such schemes have complained of late payments and bureaucratic bottlenecks that leave them stranded in foreign countries without adequate financial support.

The situation echoes a similar case previously reported on this site, in which the same group of students signalled their intention to picket the London High Commission. Their decision to follow through on that threat underscores the depth of frustration felt by young Ghanaians who accepted government scholarships in good faith, only to find themselves abandoned by the very institution that promised to support their education.

The Government of Ghana has not yet publicly responded to the students’ latest claims. However, the demonstration is likely to attract attention from both the Ghanaian diaspora and domestic observers, raising questions about the reliability of state-funded scholarship programmes and the government’s capacity to honour its financial commitments to citizens pursuing higher education overseas.

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