Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mrs. Sabah Zita Benson, has clarified that the group of Ghanaian Ph.D students who petitioned the UK Prime Minister have already completed their programmes and are demanding stipends despite having no intention of returning to Ghana.
In a Facebook post on Thursday July 30, 2026, the High Commissioner said the students were fully sponsored by the Government of Ghana with taxpayers’ money.
“Let me put on record that these students have completed their Ph.D. Their tuition have been paid by Government with the tax payers money,” Mrs. Benson stated.
This was after a group of Ghanaian government-sponsored students studying in the United Kingdom has petitioned the British Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene in what they describe as a prolonged failure by Ghanaian authorities to pay their tuition fees and living allowances.
The petition, dated July 30, 2026, was submitted by the leadership of the group, claiming they have gone for more than 40 months without receiving stipends, leaving many in severe financial distress.
According to the petition, several students have been blocked from accessing academic services at their universities due to unpaid tuition fees, while others have reportedly been withdrawn from their programmes.
However, Ghana’s High Commissioner to UK and Ireland said that the students do not plan to return to Ghana after their studies, noting that some of the beneficiaries had obtained letters of “no objection” to remain in the UK for additional work.
“They have no intentions of returning to Ghana after tax payers money was spent on them to complete their Ph.D,” she said.
“Some of them took letters of no objection to stay on for extra two years to work and are fully employed in various universities in the UK,” the High Commissioner said.
Mrs. Benson further explained that the core of the petition to the UK Prime Minister was a request for stipends.
“What their petition is asking for is stipends. They want us to spend more of tax payers money to pay them stipends for getting Ph.D even though they are not coming back to Ghana to serve in return,” she posted.
She reminded the group that it is expected of every person sponsored by government to return home by citing Section 31 of the Ghana Scholarship Authority Act, 2025 (Act 1149), which mandates beneficiaries to return home after their studies.
“Under section 31(1) of the Ghana Scholarship Authority Act 2025, Act 1149, a person who benefits under the Act must return to serve the country after completion of study,” she said.
“Section 31(2) says; a Person who contravenes subsection (1) shall refund the amount spent on them plus interest,” Mrs. Benson added.
