District Chief Executive for Bongo, Hon. Peter Ayimbisa
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Bongo in the Upper East Region, Peter Ayimbisa, has cautioned caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme against laziness and habitual lateness which could unduly delay the provision of hot and nutritious food to the children.
According to him, the Assembly will not hesitate to revoke the contract of any caterer, who will give substandard food to the children under their care.
“Compromising on the quality of the food for any reason will be a breach of the contract they have with the government through the Ghana School Feeding Programme,” he noted.
The Bongo District Chief Executive, who is also the Chairman of the Ghana School Feeding Programme Committee in the district, promised to ensure that no caterer “jokes” under the programme under his tenure.
“In the past, caterers did what they wanted, they compromised on the quality of food and yet insisted on payment. That was bad and if anyone does that under my watch, it will still be bad and so that caterer will be sacked to serve as deterrent to others.”
With the change in government and the expiration of the contracts of the caterers recruited under the then National Democratic Congress government, some new caterers have been recruited to handle the various schools that are benefiting from the Ghana School Feeding Programme from the beginning of the 2017-2018 academic year.
Some of the caterers at one of the orientation sessions in Bolgatanga raised concerns about the cost of the brand of rice that the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has selected for the caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
The caterers, who raised the concerns, are of the view that they should be allowed to buy the rice and other foodstuffs from the local markets and farmers so as to also create jobs for the farmers in their districts.
They also complained that the cost of the rice selected by the ministry is higher than most of the rice brands on the market in the region.
The Ghana School Feeding Programme started under President Kufour with some funding from the Dutch Government.
It was expanded in terms of beneficiaries under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to increase enrolment in selected deprived communities across the country.
In some districts, including Garu-Tempane some “ghost” beneficiary schools were created under the last NDC government and caterers, who did not render any service were paid far beyond that those that diligently worked for the state.
Hon Ayimbisa has vowed to fight corruption in the programme.
From Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bongo