Ghanaian PhD student loses Ohio University scholarship for attacks on Ama Governor, LGBTQ+

The dream of a Ghanaian man to obtain a PhD in Biological Science at Ohio University in the United States has hit the rock as old comments on Twitter against activist, Ama Governor and LGBTQ+ community have caused him to lose his scholarship.

Ghanaian PhD student loses Ohio University scholarship for attacks on Ama Governor, LGBTQ+

A Ghanaian LGBT activist known as Papa Kojo petitioned the university, drawing its attention to Derrick Boadi Sakyi’s tweets which he deemed to be incitement of hate against LGBTQ+ people.

The petitioner realized that his compatriot had relocated to the US to study a PhD programme under a scholarship, which was reportedly meant for LGBTQIA+ community members, applicants from the Global South, first-generation students, and people with disabilities.

Papa Kojo then went online to dig up old tweets of Boadi Sakyi, which he attached to his petition to Ohio University.

“One guy sent me death threats and I just checked his profile. He’s been inciting hate for years…in one of his most recent tweets, he confessed to setting up gay men to be beaten and blackmailed and said if Ama allows him to correctively rape her, he’ll get her to the bar.

“I’ve found his name and details on LinkedIn and he moved to the US two weeks ago to start a PhD in Ohio. I want everyone to hold on tight because this TL is about to get bloody messy af in the coming days,” the petitioner wrote on Twitter.

In a subsequent post on Twitter, Papa Kojo said that the university has responded to his letter, saying Sakyi's scholarship had been put on hold until the outcome of an investigation.

“Stay away from progressive funding and scholarships if you’re a homophobe. Apply to Iran, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan since you love oppression so bad,” he advised.

He added that Sakyi has admitted to owning the Twitter account, @1Sackes, which has since been deleted.