Government releases GH¢31 million to pay school feeding caterers
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
• Akufo-Addo has revealed that the Finance Ministry has released GH¢31m to settle arrears owed school feeding caterers
Read full article • He said the delay of payment was due to insufficient fund
• Akufo-Addo is currently on a tour in the Western Region
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced the release of an amount of GH¢31 million cedis for the payment of arrears for school feeding caterers in the Western Region.
According to him, the funds were released by the Ministry of Finance explaining that the lack of funds caused the delay in payment.
“I am happy to announce that payments have been made to caterers in all the regions. It is true that caterers in the Western and Western North were not paid due to insufficient funds. That has been resolved. The Ministry of Finance has released GH¢31 million for the payment of caterers,” he stated.
The announcement by the president follows complaints by some aggrieved caterers of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, who threatened to stop cooking for students if the feeding grant of GH¢3 if government does not increase the amount.
President Akufo-Addo, however, was hopeful the funds will address the problem following the release of the money.
The president was speaking in an on Takoradi-based radio, Skyypower FM on Saturday, September 4, during his second-day tour of the Western Region.
On the other hand, Akufo-Addo, speaking on the situation of the closed borders, said they will still remain closed because it “poses a different kind of problem.”
He said he is waiting for the advice of health experts before borders would be opened since controlling of individuals is difficult especially because many have resorted to the use of unauthorized ways of entering the country.
“The land borders pose a different kind of problem. You have got unauthorized ways of coming into the country, controlling that is still difficult. It is doubtful the system of testing at the borders can be as rigorous as they are at Kotoka.”
He added, “There are lots of our people who are doing this coming and going on a daily basis [at land borders]; how are we going to test people? Until we are sure that we have strong control over it, we need to be careful.”
