Scholarship for the Rich: The Unheard Stories of Poor Party Footsoldiers

Awal Issahaku Kanawu (now Awal Bin Ishaq) was a household name in political communication for the NPP in opposition. His social media presence was quite profound as he engaged in boisterous and blistering campaigns and duels for his party. He had gained appreciable recognition from party bigwigs for his audacity and sheer tenacity to see the NDC out of power. He had at one point transitioned into radio communication for the party, availing himself for any given opportunity to speak to Ghanaians to reject the NDC in 2016.

Though he was a senior back at the nurses’ training college, we had several fiery altercations online that crossed the Rubicon. However, at one point, a big NPP person wanted to even meet me through him. So, Awal is one of the few guys who have paid their dues to their political parties with their time, knowledge, and talent.

In 2019, Awal yearned strongly for a scholarship to elevate his academic journey as he had transitioned from the confines of bedside nursing into the vast arena of academia. On the face of the pink sheet, his primary motivation was to fortify his curriculum vitae in order to stand proudly in the halls of scholarly honour whiles imparting knowledge onto the next generation of young nurses. With firm determination, Awal rallied his local and regional connections, on the high hopes of his very own self-recognisance relevance, built with people in his own party. Alas! His selfless labour for the NPP and the nexus built thereof was not enough to secure him a scholarship.

In 2020, Awal was still poised to embrace the future with unwavering courage and unshakeable resolve. With renewed determination, he stepped up his game, knocking on the doors of many powerful persons (names withheld) within his party for a scholarship. He made urgent calls and traversed the length and breadth of the country to meet the movers and shakers whose words are a decree. Yet, despite his valiant efforts, the verdict remained unchanged, casting a shadow of disappointment upon his fervent quest and dreams. Even his “last hope,” a beacon of possibility in a sea of despair, proved to be but a fleeting mirage.

Awal is a worthy candidate who ticked all the boxes to merit a unanimous consideration for a scholarship with the secretariat. However, his only challenge among others included the following:

• He is not from a rich background, and no one knows his father from Yendi

• He is not a son or daughter of a former IGP or celebrity or retired article 71 officeholder

• He is not a CEO of a well-established business in a plush area in Accra

• He is not a stably employed person who has lived abroad for over ten years

• His father is not a board chair of a lucrative state enterprise

• He is not an aide to the second lady

• He did not have Ofori-Atta or any recognisable surname

If you read the Fourth Estate’s scholarship bonanza report, you will appreciate that one must meet one or two of the criteria above to merit a scholarship from the secretariat. I feel so scandalous that a scheme meant to push brilliant but needy candidates engages in this magnitude of travesty. It is utterly disgraceful!

Also, the scholarships are given to persons who can choose to abandon their program without blinking or caring about the quantum of money that is handed over to these international universities in hard foreign currencies. Again, in a country like ours, where we are still struggling to feed ourselves with a messed-up healthcare and education, the scholarship secretariat grants someone 20,000 euros to study Luxury and Fashion Management. Eeeih! I just hope it is not poverty that is making me to think this way.

Well, let’s come back to the story of Awal. When the reality hit him hard that the scholarships in Ghana are not for commoners like him, he recoiled into his shell, gnashing his teeth in anguish and thinking of what to do next. He stayed mute on politics, thinking of the next string to pull. For Awal, his pursuit for a scholarship was not merely for personal advancement, but a profound journey of self-discovery and transformation. Indeed, through his own personal efforts, he secured himself an opportunity to study in the US last year, putting behind his excruciating pain and trauma of his scholarship quest.

Now, the irony is that NPP communicators still sit in radio stations and claim that they have given a fully-funded scholarship to Awal. That is a very big fat lie. Recently, the NPP Northern Regional Communications Director, Yusif Danjima unashamedly lied on Diamond FM that the NPP had provided several scholarship packages for its footsoldiers and mentioned Awal Bin Ishaq as one of the beneficiaries. Awal called into the program and denied that big fat lie.

Another testimony. One of my NPP friends recently told me he has chased scholarships in the last one year like his very life depended on it. He added that he has called all the local champions (names withheld), and none had any iota of assurance for him. He said his own people are now dodging his calls.

However, there was something he told me that left me in bewilderment. One of his local connections gave him a number to call. When he called, the lady on the other side of the phone boldly told him that he would be paying GH₵15,000. I exclaimed. He said the amount you pay or bribe to obtain scholarship in this elitist regime hinges on two factors: the length of your program and the value of money involved for the beneficiary.

My friend and colleague at work is an MPhil Nursing student at KNUST and a dyed-in-the-wool NPP member. He never misses an opportunity to tell me that “Bawumia is an astute economist.” A statement that always leaves me questioning his “sanity.” Notwithstanding his enslavement to the emblem of the wild beast, his surest bet to securing a scholarship for his program is to add an affidavit to include Ofori-Atta in his name.

Finally, Sayibu Abdul Malik wanted a PhD program in the UK. Although I may not like him for very good reasons, he has paid his dues too. But his boss and former Northern Regional Minister, Hon. Salifu Sa-eed, fought tooth and nail but he could not secure one. Don’t be surprised, securing a scholarship under this toffee-nosed NPP government is not the job of mere government appointees.

Well, on paper Malik qualifies for any scholarship. Apart from his qualifications, he is also from a very poor background in the remote periphery of Bimbilla. However, sadly, the scholarship secretariat does not have time for poor people from remote areas. If you are a brilliant son or daughter of a farmer, then your chances of securing a scholarship with the secretariat is equal to the occurrence of total solar eclipse. Knowing the challenging background of Malik, the scholarship secretariat will not even consider him to study frogs in Kumbungu if there was one.

Well, this is an open secret. Malik may deny this stark reality that is so obvious like a nine-month pregnancy. However, I won’t be surprised. In conversations surrounding NPP, Malik senses always go on vacation.

I know there are many other NPP footsoldiers who might have bigger frustrating stories to share but because their party wants to Break the 8, they would rather hold their breath. They’ve been disillusioned into believing that the next NPP government will be better than the one that is currently suffocating us.

The picture is clear now! Free SHS is for the poor, common Ghanaians, and free scholarship to study abroad is for elite politicians and their families. If we don’t fight this status quo, their children will come and perpetrate on our children the same crimes their fathers are perpetrating against us.

Dagombas have a wise saying that “if you’re hungry, and instead of seeking food, you’re inflating your stomach to feign satisfaction, hunger will eventually consume you.”