We’ll ensure gov’t prioritizes school feeding caterers’ needs – Bagbin

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has emphasised the need for challenges with the national school feeding programme to be quickly resolved.

In recent times, there has been a running battle between caterers of the programme and authorities over the cost of feeding per student.

In a bid to resolve the challenge, the Speaker paid a surprise visit to the National Buffer Stock Company and the National School Feeding Programme.

“I decided to spring this surprise to see on the ground how these agencies are struggling to cope with the pressure. I am trying to understand the challenges they are experiencing and how we can support them to do their work. It is a national issue that I did not want to be taken along partisan lines. We pass the laws and approve the budget, and therefore we should be on top to assist the government to put their priorities right.”

Caterers nationwide boycotted cooking weeks ago over outstanding allowances owed to them by the government.

Caterers in Savannah, Volta, Western North, Oti, Bono, Ahafo, Bono East and North-East regions were subsequently paid by the government after several protests.

However, some school feeding caterers in the Western Region recently picketed at the offices of the School Feeding Programme Secretariat in Accra, agitating over the non-payment of monies owed them for preparing meals for pupils.