Ghana's High Commissioner to India, Michael Oquaye Jnr
Ghana’s High Commission to India has denied putting stipends of Ghanaian students on government scholarship to India into an interest yielding venture.
The Commission in a statement noted that like all Ghana’s missions abroad, it is not allowed to invest public funds for profits without approval of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
“Indeed, no money has been invested by the Mission to warrant such accusations,” part of the statement reads.
This was in response to allegations by the students that the High Commission had invested their money and have had to wait for it to mature in May.
The students further alleged that instead of stipends for 6 months, the High Commission informed them they have received stipends for just 3 months.
“Initially they said the money had not arrived then later they said 3 months had arrived… the high commission eventually confessed that 6 months had been paid and that order from above states the high commission should ration the money for us because we would waste the money,” the students noted in a report.
But the High Commission debunking this allegation, noted that it was authorised to pay 3-months and not 6-months stipends, adding that it only disburses funds when the Scholarship Secretariat authorises it to do so.
“It is therefore untrue that the Mission received any instruction from the Secretariat to pay the students six months stipends but chose to pay three months. The truth is that, as at the time of writing this response, the High Commission had been requested by the Secretariat to pay the students three months stipends.”
Read the full statement below
