The Financial Minister, Hon. Ofori Atta, is being dared by fertiliser suppliers under the government's flagship programme Planting for Food and Jobs to be transparent when he presents overpayment of funds to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for certain unpaid arrears.
When the Minister stated that he had provided $278.57 million to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as part of the GHC 485.90 million the ministry requested to run the programme this year, they expressed some trepidation about his remarks.
When questioned about the problem of financial clearance to MOFA to pay off the huge debt owed partners and suppliers on the floor of parliament on Wednesday, the minister stated that his ministry has provided funds to pay off outstanding obligations.
"Mr. Speaker, at the end of 2021, the PFJ Program had an outstanding balance of GHC 86.31 million. The MOFA has now received authorization to disburse this sum. For payment under the PFJ programme this year, MOFA has asked for GHC 485.90 million. Following that, GHC 278.57 million in funds were released to MOFA, according to Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta.
However, these outstanding partners and suppliers claim that they have not received payment from the implementing ministry since 2021, with minor exceptions occurring in 2020.
Following the Minister's speech on the floor of Parliament, suppliers claimed that their various banks had been pursuing them because they believed the suppliers had transferred the money to other accounts.
"We are asking for a clear explanation since the Finance Minister's presentation left us a little perplexed. What happened to the money he said he released? In an interview, one supplier rhetorically questioned Sampson Kwame Nyamekye.
There are inconsistencies in his presentation, so we are urging him to make things more clear for us because the Banks are also pursuing us for money, one supplier added. "How would we still drag government for our money when the Finance Ministry claims to have released an amount to clear the outstanding debts?"
Some of the contractors claimed that no money had been issued for outstanding obligations based on their checks at the Controller and Accounts Department.
In spite of this, many fertiliser providers that Sampson Kwame Nyamekye spoke to for a previous story last month acknowledged that the government still owes them money for the fertiliser it provided to PFJ farmers.
In a another article, peasant farmers voiced concern about how the lack of fertilisers has been harming their ability to run successful farms since suppliers are hesitant to provide them with fertiliser.
The government's primary agricultural campaign, Planting for Food and Jobs, has five (5) implementation elements. The first PFJ module (Crops) seeks to support food security, the immediate marketability of chosen food crops, and the creation of jobs.