An Adhoc Committee of Parliament has been constituted to investigate activities of the Buffer Stock Company and the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
The Adhoc Committee, comprising Education; Gender, Children and Social Protection; Health; Food and Agriculture and Finance committees is to report back before the end of October and to include in its findings recommendations on the feasibility and sustainability of the two programmes.
Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin issued the directive following challenges in Senior High Schools across the country with respect to inadequate food supplies and non-payment of caterers of the School Feeding Programme.
The caterers embarked on strike in May this year and requested their grants be increased from the current 0.97 pesewas to GH¢3.00 per child per meal with some threatening to terminate their contracts entirely due to months of non-payment of arrears by the government.
Speaker Bagbin subsequently followed up on the complaints with a visit to the Buffer Stock Company office and the School Feeding Secretariat to appraise himself of the challenges.
Addressing Members of Parliament on Tuesday on the matter, he warned the current situation affects vulnerable school children and future leaders of the country and noted as political leaders, they are prioritizing political development over economic growth.
“We are neglecting a significant resource of development; the people and as MPs, we cannot fold our arms or follow partisan lines and positions whilst Rome burns.”
“Parliament is the primary democratic institution that represents the people of this country, and the only constitutionally legitimate authority to call government to order and to put things right. We must resolve, here and now, to act quickly and decisively on this matter,” he stated.
According to the Speaker, during his visit to Buffer Stock, the CEO detailed the challenges of the company including stocking for government use, and price increases in food items among others.
The CEO, he said, lamented how such a laudable program is being affected by a lack of funding and compelling management to assess funding from commercial sources such as ADB Ltd.
He disclosed the National Coordinator of the School Feeding Programme also bemoaned the Ministry of Finance’s inability to pay caterers on time but denied information about the non-payment of caterers for a period of time.
He said, “This is a NO-NO for a country that claims to prioritise human capacity development. The lives and proper development of these vulnerable and defenceless children are critical to the future of this country, and we cannot stand by and do nothing as things deteriorate.”
“We must be able to oversee government set the priorities of this country right and I am deeply concerned about the well-being and competence of these future leaders.”
Speaker Bagbin stressed the School Feeding Programme provides great potential to accelerate the nation’s progress towards the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
Issues affecting the efficient implementation of the program, he said, must therefore be addressed as a matter of national priority and realistic and sustainable measures instituted to avert a possible recurrence in the future.