The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and Temple University in the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a named scholarship for outstanding Ghanaian law students, deepening the bilateral academic partnership between the two countries.
The agreement sets up the Professor John Evans Atta Mills Scholarship and creates a framework guaranteeing tuition fee discounts to GETFund scholarship awardees admitted to Temple University’s Beasley School of Law to undertake Master of Laws (LLM) programmes.
GETFund Administrator Paul Adjei, who signed on behalf of the fund, highlighted the personal significance of the tribute, noting that the late President Atta Mills earned both his LLM and Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Temple Law and served as a visiting tax law professor at Beasley School of Law from 1978 to 1979 and again from 1986 to 1987.
Adjei described financial burden as the main barrier keeping capable Ghanaian scholars from realising their potential abroad. He said the partnership is central to President Mahama’s vision for strengthening Ghana’s education sector, and that such collaborations help students overcome the financial hurdles that prevent them from pursuing higher education.
Signing on behalf of Temple University, Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Dean of Temple Rome, Dr Emilia Zankina, said the university intends to extend similar partnerships to other Ghanaian institutions and expressed a desire for Temple to establish a footprint in Ghana where students associate the institution with quality education.
The partnership is intended to strengthen Ghana’s legal and governance capacity by equipping a new generation of professionals with global exposure, strong ethical grounding, and the competence to contribute meaningfully to national development.
The deal adds a concrete bilateral dimension to what has been a week of intensive Ghana-United States engagement, as President Mahama was in New York and Pennsylvania for the United Nations vote on the transatlantic slave trade resolution and related diplomatic activities.
