The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has clarified the circumstances surrounding the termination of the school feeding contracts.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Ghana Weekend, the Minister explained that the decision was not made unilaterally by the government but in collaboration with the World Bank, which has specific criteria and conditions that must be met.
“We are not doing this alone; we are doing it with the World Bank. There are some criteria and conditions to meet, and we didn’t want to be harsh on the caterers. In all honesty, most of them know they don’t have valid contracts,” she said.
According to her, following the last general elections, a directive was issued by the former coordinator of the program asking caterers to continue cooking temporarily. This happened during the transition period, which created some operational ambiguity
“We are supposed to move to a digital recruitment system with the support of the World Bank, but because of the academic calendar, we could not implement it as swiftly as we would have liked. That’s why we are asking for time to transition smoothly, it doesn’t mean we should maintain the current system without reform.”
The Krowor MP acknowledged that while some caterers continued cooking, many were inconsistent or had stopped altogether during the school break.
“School was on vacation, and they are just resuming. Monitoring reports showed that most of the caterers were not cooking, and they are aware of that. Some did cook, but not consistently. So for those saying they made purchases and investments, I do sympathize with them.”
She clarified that while there is no provision for compensation, those who rendered services during the period will be duly paid.
“Some have sent opinion leaders to speak on their behalf, but I have always reassured them it is not out of vindictiveness. This process is to ensure standards are met and to sanitize the system.”
The Minister emphasized that caterers interested in continuing with the program will have the opportunity to reapply under the new recruitment framework.
Source: Citinewsroom.com