Hanan Abdul-Wahab
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab, has refuted claims that heads of some senior high schools have threatened to shut down the schools due to the absence of food.
The absence of food, the reports alleged, was due to the fact that some food suppliers have threatened to curtail supply to the schools over non-payment of monies owed them by NAFCO.
Describing them as “erroneous”, Mr. Wahab debunked such claims, insisting that, “We don’t owe any supplier!”
He explained that one of the provisions in the contractual agreements with the suppliers stipulates clearly that payments for work done is within a period of sixty days after they (the suppliers) have fully delivered all food supplies to their respective institutions and submitted their Store Receipt Vouchers (SRVs) to NAFCO.
“With regard to the current semester, most of our suppliers were done with their supplies by December 2019, and had filed their necessary documents with us and by the calculations, they are all still within the stipulated time frame of 60 days. When the time is due, they will definitely have their payments,” he said.
He also disclosed that his outfit had since made payments of approximately GH¢68 million for the first batch in the current semester, adding that he had not received any official complaint by any supplier of non-payment.
Any outstanding payments, he said, might be due to the fact that the stipulated time frame of 60 days hasn’t elapsed yet.
Mr. Abdul-Wahab also cautioned journalists and media houses to cross-check information before going out with them as some issues may have dire implications on the nation.
He implored journalists to “be circumspect and guided by the journalistic principles of fairness, objectivity and balance” by seeking the opinions of all sides to a story before publication.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio