School feeding caterers serving pupils mouldy, unwholesome food – AG report

The Auditor-General’s report for 2022 has disclosed that unwholesome food is being served to basic school pupils under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP).

A performance audit report conducted by the Auditor-General on the management of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) revealed that mouldy corn dough was used in some of the schools visited by a team to assess the progress and performance of the initiative which was launched in 2005 to help improve enrolment at basic school level.

Jollof rice and other dishes were also prepared without any protein, contrary to the requirements of the programme.

The AG’s report indicated that pupils and teachers interviewed during the visits said all complaints about the poor food were ignored.

“We noted during our visits to the schools that, not all the caterers used wholesome food items to prepare meals. For instance, at the Ankyernyin D/A Basic School, we observed in the presence of the Western Regional Coordinator and the caterer, that the cooks prepared jollof without any protein contrary to the requirements in the National Operations Manual.

“Also, the cook at the Kanfakrom D/A school in the Western Region used corn dough that had gone mouldy to prepare banku for the pupils.

“Our interactions with the pupils in all the schools we visited generally indicated that, they had complained to the teachers about either the lack of or inadequate fish, foreign materials in their meals, bad palm oil served with watery beans, and the bad smell and taste of food.

“However, the caterers still provided poor quality meals for them, hence their difficulty in eating the meals.”