Government will clear all arrears owed caterers in School Feeding Programme – Minister

Madam Cynthia Mamle Morrison, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection has assured caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme(GSFP) that government would soon pay all arrears owed them.

She said government had already made GHC186 million payment through the Ghana School Feeding Programme(GSFP) to sustain the programme and asked the caterers to keep faith with government.

The Minister said this at Hohoe when she paid a working visit to the Volta Region.

She was unhappy that some caterers gave wrong numbers of pupils they were feeding to cheat the system and said auditing was ongoing and such caterers would be dealt with.

Dr. Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah, the National Coordinator, Ghana School Feeding Programme(GSFP), said the Programme would continue to train caterers and ensure that children were served nutritious meals at school and urged the caterers to work diligently to justify their engagement.

She appealed to them to add fruits to the meals, at least once a week.

“In everything you do, you have to be innovative and add value to it. There is abundance of fruits in the region so it will be nice if you add fruits to the meals you cook for the school children at least once a week to make them happy,” she said.

The Coordinator said her outfit was touring the regions to ensure that caterers were working to expectations.

Some caterers who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), stated their willingness to offer best services to children they served.

A few of the caterers who said they were handling schools with high number of pupils advised unemployed youth to enrol on the programme to reduce pressure on them.

The caterers were from the Afadjato, Kpando, Kadjebi, Jasikan, North Dayi Districts and the Hohoe Municipality.

Source: GNA