The Ellembelle District Assembly, in collaboration with Ghana Gas, has awarded GH¢4 million worth of scholarships to 420 tertiary students who hail from the area.
The gas company provided the financial support and the scheme will run for a period of four years catering for only tuition.
At a ceremony at Takoradi Technical University (TTU) to disburse the cheques, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzo, expressed delight over the awards.
His delight, according to him, stemmed from the fact that as DCE, he knew the number of applications the Assembly had received from tertiary students in the area for financial support.
“For the last six years that I have been DCE, I have been grappling with requests from Nzema students for financial support, and I am happy at last we have a scholarship scheme to the rescue.”
Knowing the challenges students go through before finally honouring their school fees, the DCE believe it was a dream come true.
This is because, without the scholarships, most of the beneficiaries would not be able to complete their courses.
DCE Kwasi Bonzo reminded the beneficiaries that when the scheme was launched on May 12th this year, many were those who thought he was using the scheme for his political ambition.
But he denied that assertion, saying he did not champion the scholarship scheme in anticipation of getting anything from the beneficiaries, adding that he knew what the Assembly was doing in the form of the scholarships would bear fruit in future.
“The significance of the scholarship scheme is about you, and not me. Because of my personal experience, I want to make sure those of you who will want to complete your course do so with pride.”
For DCE Bonzo, though the Assembly existed with the core objective to lead developmental projects in the District, he had different idea, because the greatest asset of every society was the development of human resource. “We can build all the projects, but if the human resource is weak, maintenance becomes weak as well.”
DCE Bonzo used the opportunity to advise the beneficiaries to take their books serious, and remember why they were awarded the scholarships.
He reminded the students that their performance would count and play a role if Ghana Gas was to renew the scholarships after four years.
