By Gifty Boateng
Various public tertiary universities including the University of Ghana, have erupted with jubilation after cash amounts hit accounts of students under the ‘No Fees Stress’ policy initiative.
The payment of the money is a fulfillment of a promise by the John Mahama government to all First-Year tertiary students, aimed at easing the burden of paying schools fees by suffering parents and guardians.
Per The New Republic’s checks, over GHc2, 900 were paid to each students.
According to the Minister for Communications and spokesperson to the president, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has disclosed that about 15, 000 students have so far received disbursements.
He said the remaining students will be reimbursed after verification is completed.
This comes months, after the Ministry of Education, activated the processes to reimburse these students who prior to the academy year, paid their fees with the hope of getting it back from the government after the processes were completed.
On Thursday July 3, this portal’s monitoring of the situation showed that, the repayments were completed and students who received their moneys at the campuses and hostels, were seen outside of their rooms celebrating the obvious good news.
In some of the videos that were shared online, the students were seen jumping, shouting and dancing to Mahama and National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaign songs including one composed by Nacee ‘Kwen Kwen’.
In one of such videos recorded by a person who sounded like a female, the individual shouted, “the money don drop”, while another person responded, “I tell you”.
The video was captioned “oseeee Mahama …. Dear level 100s, how are you feeling? No stress fees”.
At B 306, a department of a hostel at the University of Ghana, students in their numbers were seen jamming to Kwen Kwen. The video was captioned “Our Excellency John Dramani Mahama promised and has delivered”.
In May 2025, Kwakye Ofosu announced a significant progress had been made as far as the process was concerned.
He indicated in a social media post that some 57, 327 students had accessed the dedicated online portal with 41, 647 students having completed the registration process.
“This process is essential to ensure that reimbursements reach the right students and that institutions submissions are accurate”.
The ‘No fees stress’ initiative is a government-backed programme and campaign promise, designed to support students by covering tuition fees in public tertiary institutions, either through direct payment or a refund for those who have already paid out of pockets.