According to Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, the government owes Buffer Stock Company GH 340 million, which is the cause of the food crisis in senior high schools all throughout the nation.
In response to inquiries on the ongoing food deficit in schools, the Minister gave this remark on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday.
Dr. Adutwum claims that despite the government's debt to the Buffer Stock Company, it is making efforts to make payments in order to end the food crisis.
"Mr. Speaker, as of July 20th, the Ministry of Education owed the National Food Buffer Stock Company 340, 296,866.08 pesewas in unpaid obligations. The government is making efforts to pay off this outstanding debt, he added.
He said that the government has already issued and paid GHS 327,871, 809.10 to the Buffer Stock Company this year.
Dr. Adutwum said that he had visited schools in all the locations where there had been shortages and that "they will continue to see progress from now on" when asked whether he was aware that CHASS was unhappy with buffer stock and its distribution to SHS.
The Education Ministry would continue to work with Buffer Stock, he said, "to ensure that their procedures are simplified and financing flows to them so that they can give the food to the school," even though the current state of the food supply is not what they had anticipated.
Kofi Asare, the executive director of African Education Watch (Eduwatch), has cautioned Ghanaians not to hold the country's education minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, responsible for what seems to be a food scarcity in some senior high schools.
He claims that the Ministry of Finance's inability to disburse adequate funds to pay the food suppliers to the schools is the cause of the present difficulties.
Kofi Asare responded to inquiries on Monday's JoyNews AM Show via Zoom by stating that the Education Ministry and the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) had established responsible rules and cash flow estimates to guarantee that the SHSs continued to operate without interruption.
He added that it was difficult for them to have enough money to buy and supply the schools since the Finance Ministry wouldn't release the appropriate amount of money to pay the food suppliers.
According to the Executive Director of Eduwatch, "Look, until the Finance Ministry makes it a point of releasing funds to the suppliers regularly and on time, it will be difficult for this shortage issue to end because they cannot continue borrowing money to buy food at enormous prices for supply to the schools.
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