The third term of the 2022 academic year's arrears for caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) will be paid this week, according to Lariba Zuweira Abudu, the minister for gender, children, and social protection.
The minister stated that the government had already paid the outstanding obligations for the first and second terms of the academic year 2022 and that the files for 11,052 caterers had been finalised for payment.
Hajia Abudu said 76 caterers were unlikely to receive their money because of some lingering issues with their ezwich cards, even though she was unable to provide the precise amount of the payments to be paid this week.
Meet-the-press
Hajia Abudu spoke to reporters at the Minister's Press Conference in Accra yesterday to provide an update to the public on the payments, the future course, and other issues.
This comes after weeks of protests from the caterers, some of whom threatened to cease providing meals for the students who would benefit from them because of the growing arrears, which they claimed had forced them to operate on tight budgets.
Nutritional programme
According to the ministry, there were around 34,350 caterers working under the project who fed 3,801,491 people throughout 10,832 public elementary schools.
"In 2018, the cost of feeding was increased from 80 pesewas (80 Gp) to GH1, and in 2023, GH1.20 has been proposed as the cost per meal per child per day," she stated.
According to Ms. Abudu, the scheme that helped people, particularly women, find jobs and earn money to provide for their families also supplied a ready market for nearby farmers, stimulating the economy.
She stated that as part of the government's shared growth and development agenda and national social protection strategy, which are based on SDGs 1, 2, 4, and 5, the GSFP is one of the social protection flagship programmes that is consistent with other significant policies and development strategies.
According to Ms. Abudu, the ministry uses an electronic monitoring system that provides real-time data to improve programme implementation.
"Software has been developed to manage the GSFP data, and the ministry will continue to implement planned activities and monitor compliance with standards so that no one is left behind," she continued.
Programme LEAP
Regarding the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP), the minister stated that it had paid all arrears from 2022 and that beneficiaries had reached 1.5 million this year. He also stated that the "government has doubled the amount for beneficiaries."
According to her, the LEAP cash awards had been given to those who had been accused of witchcraft in the five camps in the northern and northern-eastern areas.
While it was not difficult for the government to shut down the witch camps, Ms. Abudu stressed that it was crucial to remember that the camps acted as the first line of defence for the protection of such people.
She said that as of last month, there were 96 detainees at the camps, up from around 84 in 2022.
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