Caterers in the Greater Accra Region have protested the non-payment of their feeding subsidy under the National School Feeding Programme.
They also stated that they would not be paid for only 12 out of 68 working days for the third term of the 2021 academic year, as the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection purportedly indicated.
At a news conference, the caterers demanded that the government pay all arrears owing them for the 68 working days so that they could continue cooking for schoolchildren and settle bills from food procurement.
They also demanded that the grant be increased from one cedi per kid to three cedis per child. Madam Helena Appiah, Secretary of the Association's Greater Accra Branch, said:
"This payment arrangement, which is 12 days, will not be accepted by us." We won't be able to feed the schoolchildren unless the demand for full payment for the entire 68-day period is satisfied."
"We are not taking the 12 days because we have worked for 68 days and they are telling us that we are going to get paid for 12 days," said Madam Juliana Codjoe, President of the Greater Accra Region School Feeding Caterers Association. No! So, starting today, we're not going to cook until they pay in full."
Since mid-May, the caterers have been on strike to urge their demands.
The Ghana School Feeding Program is part of the CAADP's Pillar 3 program, which aims to improve food security and reduce hunger in line with the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on hunger, poverty, and malnutrition.
Its goals include increasing enrolment, attendance, and retention at schools.
It also aims to eliminate short-term hunger and malnutrition among children in kindergarten and primary school, as well as increase domestic food production.
According to the Gender Ministry, the program currently feeds 1.69 million children, accounting for 37.4 percent of national coverage.