GRASAG–GIMPA accuses management of sabotaging student programmes over withheld funds

The Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG) at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has accused the school’s management of deliberately withholding student funds in what it claims is a move to weaken student-led initiatives.

In a strongly worded statement issued in Accra on Tuesday, the association said repeated requests for the release of its funds had been ignored, crippling major events such as its 24-Hour Economy Public Lecture and Women’s Empowerment Summit — key programmes scheduled for this year’s GRASAG Week.

“The timing and persistence of these financial restrictions suggest a calculated effort to sabotage GRASAG–GIMPA’s initiatives and silence critical student-led engagements,” the association alleged.

Despite the alleged financial blockade, GRASAG said its executives had continued to run essential activities using personal resources, fulfilling their constitutional obligations under difficult circumstances.

The group also defended its Patron, Professor Wisdom Akpalu, and GIMPA’s Registrar, Dr Victoria Mwinsumah Puoyeng Kunbuor, describing recent reports linking them to financial misconduct as “malicious, fabricated and intended to tarnish their integrity.”

It dismissed rumours that Dr Kunbuor was a signatory to the association’s bank account, describing such claims as “baseless and misleading.”

“All financial transactions are conducted in line with institutional and banking regulations,” the statement said, accusing unnamed individuals of attempting to replace the current patron with one “more willing to enable the misuse of student funds.”

GRASAG–GIMPA further claimed that some senior lecturers were lobbying to be appointed as patron of the association, a move it described as unethical and a threat to student independence.

The association praised Prof Akpalu’s “integrity and commitment to student welfare,” citing his role in establishing a GH¢50,000 Graduate Studies Endowment Fund in 2021 to support needy students, as well as his efforts in securing study rooms and subsidised academic services for graduates.

GRASAG called on GIMPA management to immediately release all outstanding student funds, including arrears from previous academic years, saying the continued delay undermines academic freedom, student welfare and leadership development.

With the tenure of its current executives ending in November, the association said preparations are underway to organise elections in line with its democratic governance principles.

In closing, GRASAG expressed solidarity with Prof Akpalu and Dr Kunbuor and issued an apology to them “for the fabricated allegations made by individuals with vested interests.”