The School Feeding Caterers Association has said since the exit of Otiko Afisa Djaba as Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, there have been retrogression in the administration of the Programme.
According to the President of the Association, Juliana Cudjoe, caterers have been underpaid since the Ministers exit.
The School Feeding Programme which started in 2005 is an initiative of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) Pillar 3 which seeks to enhance food security and reduce hunger in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
Former President Kufuor placed it under the guidance of the Gender Minister and has remained there since.
In 2017 when the Akufo-Addo government took over, Madam Otiko Djaba was the sector Minister, whom according to the caterers managed the programme than subsequent Ministers who took over after her exit.
Speaking with Nana Yaa Brefo Danso on Onua FM’s morning show, Yen Nsempa, Thursday, July 18, 2024, Madam Cudjoe, President of the Association, noted that “we have always been underpaid since Otiko left and Morrison came.”
Her comments come on the back of a report from the Auditor-General indicating the caterers serve unwholesome meals to the children.
But according to the caterers, they rather sacrifice with the meagre amount given them per head, and should rather be applauded for their efforts.
“We were given GHC1.00 from 2017 to 2024 and paid 30% tax so it was 97pesewas until they increased it to GHC1.20p after our numerous cries for them to increase it to GHC3.00. We pay tax of 30pesewas from the GHC1.20p. We rather deserved to be praised rather than our images being tarnished as caterers. We don’t prepare unwholesome food. With GHC1.17p we prepare banku, jollof, waakye, groundnut and palm nut soup,” she disclosed.
She added that but for their sacrifices, the programmme wouldn’t have been sustained.
“We the caterers sacrifice. We have decided to sacrifice to support the government else this [school feeding programme] wouldn’t have sufficed,” she added.
The Auditor-General has revealed in the 2022 report that numerous school feeding caterers in five regions provided thousands of pupils with unwholesome meals.
The report highlights disturbing findings, particularly in the Upper East and Greater Accra regions, where children were served rice with pebbles and beans infested with worms and weevils.
“In the Upper East and Greater Accra regions, children at different locations were served rice that had pebbles in it, and beans infested with worms and weevils,” the report contains in some part.
Additionally, it was found that some caterers added food coloring to dishes like jollof rice, violating the National Operations Manual requirements.
The report also observed that the food served was often insufficient to last through the school day.
“58 caterers out of some 245 schools the auditor sampled across five regions provided poor quality meals for the pupils. Caterers in 21 out of 73 schools in the Greater Accra region, and one out of 22 schools in the Western Region provided poor quality food for the pupils in the Upper East region in August 2022.
“A head teacher in the Nabdam district reported, that the caterer at different locations served rice that had pebbles in it, beans infested with worms and weevils, and waakye without delicious stew. In the Greater Accra region, a monitoring report indicated that the caterer for a fifth battalion A primary school added food color to the jollof rice contrary to the requirements of the National Operations Manual,” the report added.
The Auditor-General’s visits to various schools revealed that not all caterers used wholesome food items. “At the Ankyernyin D/A Basic School, it was observed that cooks prepared jollof without any protein contrary to the requirements in the National Operations Manual. In another instance, the cook at the Kanfakrom D/A school in the Western Region used corn dough that had gone moldy to prepare banku for the pupils.”
The inadequacy of food portions was another critical issue. At the Medina Estates MA One Primary School in the Greater Accra region, the report noted that “waakye prepared by the caterer was not adequate for 188 pupils. The quantity is supposed to be two 16-litre food warmers to feed 188 pupils, but only enough for 116 was provided.”
Meanwhile, Madam Cudjoe noted that she and her staff consume some of the food and there is no way they will prepare unwholesome food for the children.
“I eat some of the food together with my staff, teachers, headmistress so how would we prepare unwholesome food for the children.
