The Ghana Scholarships Authority (GSA) has firmly denied reports that the University of Memphis terminated its scholarship agreement with the Authority over an alleged $4 million debt, insisting that the partnership remains fully in force and that no formal or informal notice of termination has ever been received.
In a statement issued by the Director-General of the GSA, Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, the Authority pushed back directly against a report published by Citi FM suggesting that the University of Memphis had ended its partnership with the GSA, describing the claim as inconsistent with both the terms of the existing agreement and the current state of engagement between the two institutions.
Addressing the substance of the report, Asafo-Agyei pointed to the specific legal framework governing the partnership, noting that the agreement between the University of Memphis and the GSA, signed in April 2023, contains an explicit “Term and Termination” clause outlining precisely how either party may bring the arrangement to an end.
Under this clause, either institution is required to provide ninety days’ prior written notice before termination can take effect.
According to the Director-General, no such notice, whether official or unofficial, has been served on the GSA, nor have there been any discussions with the University that would even remotely suggest the agreement has been or is being terminated.
“As we speak, no official or unofficial notice of termination has been served on the GSA, neither have there been any discussions with the Authority that remotely suggest the agreement has been terminated.”
Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei
Beyond the absence of any termination notice, the Director-General stressed that the agreement itself carries a five-year term from the date it was signed.
Having been executed in April 2023, the partnership remains legally in force until 2028, unless terminated strictly in accordance with the notice provisions built into the agreement.
Financial Arrears Being Actively Addressed
While rejecting the termination claim, the GSA acknowledged that financial obligations tied to the partnership do exist and are being actively managed.
According to the statement, the Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Finance and on the advice of the GSA, released $500,000 to the University of Memphis as recently as Wednesday, August 26, 2026, as part-payment toward outstanding arrears owed under the agreement.
The Authority further disclosed that it has been engaging the Ministry of Finance on the broader budgetary allocation required to fully service the debt obligation, describing ongoing discussions aimed at arriving at a sustainable long-term solution to the financial commitments involved.
Asafo-Agyei revealed that he is presently in the United States as part of a scheduled engagement with the University of Memphis, where discussions are specifically focused on developing a roadmap for settling the outstanding financial obligations.
He described debt as a legacy issue, one he said was inherited partly from his predecessor, positioning the current engagement as part of a deliberate effort to resolve inherited financial arrears rather than a response to any new crisis in the relationship.
“This is a legacy debt inherited partly from my predecessor, and I am currently engaging in the University of Memphis directly on a roadmap to meet these outstanding obligations.”
Alex Kwaku Asafo-Agyei
Given the current state of the agreement and the ongoing financial engagement between the GSA and the University of Memphis, the Director-General questioned the basis on which Citi FM had reported that the scholarship deal had been ended, stating that it remained unclear where the outlet had obtained its information.
Call For Retraction and Correction
While acknowledging Citi FM’s long-standing role as a media partner in covering the work of the GSA over the years, Asafo-Agyei expressed disappointment that the outlet had not sought verification from the Authority before publishing the report.
He formally called on Citi FM to retract the story and issue the necessary corrections, taking into account the actual terms of the agreement and the GSA’s current position on the matter.
He closed his statement by stressing the importance of responsible journalism on issues of this nature, particularly given that the matter involves thousands of Ghanaian students, substantial public funds, and a strategic international scholarship partnership.
He added that where an error is as clearly pointed out as this one, an admission of fault by the reporting outlet becomes especially necessary.
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