President Mahama during his tour of the Upper East Region
President John Dramani Mahama rounded up his campaign of the Upper East Region, leaving behind an impression that his government is very likely to scrap the Feeding Grant to senior high schools in the three Northern Regions, if he is re-elected.
He is said to be a beneficiary of the Feeding Grant policy, but his government seems to be one that owes the schools more than any past government, and his attitude toward the release of the grant gives a strong indication that he does not see the Feeding Grant as an important national expenditure.
In June this year, in an apparent attempt to sway attention from the government’s indebtedness to the schools and the cries of the heads and students of the affected senior high schools, the government quickly announced the release of about GH¢30 million as Feeding Grants to the schools in the North.
A deputy Minister of Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, at a “Government for the People” programme in Bolgatanga in June 2016, directed the heads to call back their students because the government had released the Feeding Grants. It turned out that the minister had deceived the elderly men and women heading the schools.
On the second day of his four-day tour of the Upper East Region recently, President Mahama told members of the Bolgatanga Traditional Council what is good for his campaign for a second term in office. Even though the chiefs raised concerns about the effect of the long delay of the Feeding Grant on the region, the president never spoke about it.
The paramount chief of the Bongo Traditional Area and vice president, Upper East House of Chiefs, Naba Alemyarum Baba Salifu, brought the issue up as part of concerns begging for attention in a speech he read on behalf of the Regional House of Chiefs. The president kept mute over the grant during his address to the participants at the National Forum.
During question time, chief of Yorogo and acting President of the Bolgatanga Traditional Council, Naba Johnson Awuni Azebire, raised the issue again and called for the timely release of the Feeding Grants in subsequent years.
Despite these appeals and comments, President Mahama still failed to talk about the release of the money.
FROM Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga