Dozens of Ghanaian doctoral students at various British universities are facing the threat of deportation and extreme financial hardship after being abandoned by their national scholarship secretariat.
A group representing over 100 researchers has formally petitioned Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Downing Street, seeking diplomatic intervention to compel the Ghanaian government to settle millions of pounds in overdue tuition fees and living stipends.
According to the group’s president, Prince Komla Bansah, the situation has already reached a breaking point, with some scholars having their university registrations cancelled and subsequently being deported by the Home Office. Others are reportedly facing eviction, relying on food banks for survival, or accruing massive debts just to stay in the country.
The crisis stems from an estimated £32 million debt inherited by the current administration of President John Mahama, which took office in January 2025. While the Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, has acknowledged the backlog and claims to have initiated installment plans with several UK institutions, students argue that the relief has been insufficient or non-existent.
Many PhD candidates report that their tuition has remained unpaid since 2024, preventing them from graduating or accessing essential research facilities. Despite the secretariat’s claims of making significant payments, officials have declined to disclose specific figures, and students have criticized the government for reportedly awarding new foreign scholarships while failing to support those already stranded abroad.
This funding failure is not an isolated incident, as similar complaints were raised earlier this year by nearly 200 Ghanaian students in the United States. The petitioning scholars, who are enrolled at prestigious institutions including University College London and the University of Nottingham, warn that their academic careers and legal statuses are being permanently jeopardized by the administrative delays.
As the Home Office continues to enforce strict visa compliance rules, the students remain caught in a desperate stalemate between their host universities’ financial requirements and their home government’s ongoing “fact-finding” audits.
