In 2008 the managers of Ghana Education instituted an arrangement under which basic education pupils enjoyed one balanced meal each day at school.
With funding from the government of the Netherlands the programme has continued for the past six year.
However, with the spending of about US$6 billion about the budget in the run up to the 2012 general elections and the consequent scrambling to fill the bottomless hole so created, cash became scarce and the government fell back in commitment to the caterers of the school feeding initiative.
Things got so bad that a total of 111 days reimbursement became outstanding – 40 days for the first term of the 2013-2014 academic and 71 days for second term – both amounting to Ghc140 million (about US$46 million), forcing the caterers to issue a two-week ultimatum for payment or withdrawal of their services.
However, the threat seems removed following announcement that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has released funds to settle the arrears owed caterers for the Ghana School Feeding Programme for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Deputy GSFP National Coordinator (Monitoring and Evaluation) Mrs Victoria Kuma-Mintah, who disclosed this at a workshop to sensitise school feeding caterers on the need to ensure good hygiene amid cholera outbreak in the Ghanaian capital, could not however state the exact amount released.
She was addressing some caterers during a workshop organised by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to sensitise them to the need to ensure good hygiene, especially with the outbreak of cholera in the metropolis
Mrs Kuma-Mintah assured the caterers that some funds would be released in two weeks’ time that would settle all arrears owed to them, stressing: “I do not want to do guesswork but I know the amount will cover all the arrears we owe you for the first and third terms.
She advised the caterers to prepare hygienic food for the schoolchildren, adding that the government would not spare any caterer who did not perform their work well.
Mr. Siiba Alfa, GSFP Public Relations Officer, confirmed the arrears, explaining that the Gh¢100 million arrears had increased to Gh¢140 million by the end of the third term in July, 2014.
“About 40 days of the first term remains to be paid. The whole of the second term of about 71 days has also not been paid.
“All in all, we have 111 days of feeding grants to clear. This does not include the current term,” he said.
In his remarks to the caterers, Accra Metroplitan Assembly CEO, Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, said the assembly would deal with any caterer who did not adhere to the sanitation standards.
“Close to 12,000 cholera cases have been recorded in the Accra Metropolis. The school must be an environment for educating children and not an avenue for contracting diseases,” he said.
He advised the caterers to give the schoolchildren paper towels to clean their hands after they had washed them, instead of the common napkins the children used, especially before they ate.
Dr Vanderpuije said at all stages of food preparation and serving, the caterers should make sure that the food was well covered against contamination.