Two sitting Members of Parliament on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress have denied benefiting from government scholarships in Ghana.
The two MPs are Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Samuel Abu Abdulai Jinapor, who represent South Tongue and Yapei Kusawgu constituencies, respectively.
Yapei Kusawgu constituency MP John Abdulai Jinapor denied benefiting from a scholarship from the GNPC, the Schorlaship Secretariat, or the GNPC.
According to him, he has never applied for a scholarship to any of these state institutions.
His brief statement asked Ghanaians to disregard what he described as false claims circulating on social media.
His statement read “Let me put on record that I have never applied for nor received any scholarship from the GNPC, Scholarship secretariat or GETFUND for any studies abroad.
I will appeal to the general public to disregard such baseless, conconted, and contrived statements.”
For Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he also denied ever applying for any sponsorship from the institutions he has been accused of receiving scholarships from.
He has threatened to sue those who circulated the news and the media houses that published it.
He had also asked the public to disregard the need circulating on social media.
His statement read I have never applied for nor been a beneficiary of a government scholarship of any kind.
I therefore implore the general public to treat with utter contempt the deplorable circulation of this malicious and fake GNPC Foundation Foreign Scholarship list.
It is most condemnable that some journalists I hitherto had enormous respect for would proceed to further publish this defamatory list without conducting the basic ethical and professional journalistic requirement of verification.
I hope these journalists and other known persons engaged in this odious conduct will immediately retract and apologize.
May I add that I have consequently brought these publications to the attention of my lawyers and would give an indication of my next steps in the coming days.”
Meanwhile, the Special Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama has also denied receiving a scholarship from either the GNPC or Ghana’s Scholarship Secretariat.
She also denied studying at Portsmouth University, where those circulating the news claimed she studied.
She has pointed fingers at persons he described as the dishonest NPP apparatchiki who are behind the news.
She also asked the public to disregard it and treat it with contempt.
“Disregard the propaganda and falsehood being peddled by the dishonest NPP apparatchiki that I benefited from a Government of Ghana Scholarship.
Let me state without any fear of equivocation or contradiction that I have never applied for or received a grant or scholarship from either the GNPC or Ghana’s Scholarship Secretariat.
And for the avoidance of doubt I have never been a student of the Portsmouth University.
Kindly treat with utmost contempt the said publication, another confirmation that Bawumia and the NPP are just a bunch of dishonest, lying and untrustworthy persons.”