The government will settle its indebtedness of GH¢60 million to caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) by the end of this month.
“We owe caterers 87 days and in two weeks, we will be paying them the arrears of 17 dayss, and by the end of the month, we will pay the remaining 70 days,“ the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Della Sowah, has promised.
Africa School Feeding Day
Mrs Sowah made the pledge at the commemoration of the Africa School Feeding Day (ASFD) at Kwabenya, near Accra, last Tuesday.
The celebration was on the theme, “Home-grown School Feeding: Conduit for Africa’s Sustainable Development”.
Payment challenges
To address its payment challenges, the Deputy Minister said, “we have introduced an electronic payment system, a reform initiated to ensure value for money, and curb delays associated with previous modes of payment.”
She expressed the hope that it would inject transparency and accountability into the programme’s financial system, assuring stakeholders that the challenges encountered with the last payment would not be repeated.
On the health security of beneficiaries, Mrs Sowah said the ministry, in collaboration with National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), would be registering every child on the school feeding programme on the NHIA without a fee.
The children, she said, would be provided with customised identity cards (ID) to distinguish the school feeding pupils from other pupils.
“This intervention will not only provide the beneficiary pupils with free health care, but will also validate yearly the number of children on the school feeding programme in each school", she explained.
The Country Director of the World Food Programme, Ms Muntinta Chimuka, said,” achieving zero hunger and lifelong learning for all are key elements in the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDG),including the SDG goal of ending hunger by 2030.”
She, therefore, commended the government for expanding its scope of beneficiaries to 1.7 million children.
Encouraging more regular attendance at school, and contributing to children’s protection in emergencies, Ms Chimuka said would be a key investment in the children’s future, local economies, and reducing hunger across the globe.
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