Caterers under the School Feeding Program in Ghana say they will not cook for pupils from Monday June 5, 2017 following the failure of government to pay them arrears for almost a year.
The association has also threatened to picket at the premises of the Ghana Education Service.
Speaking to TV3, Public Relations Officer of the School Feeding Caterers Association of Ghana, Maame Yaa Doodua Appiah Korang said “government owes us from June 2016. Government promised that they’ll pay us 75 days of the monies owed us by the end of May and spread the rest till end of July.
“Last week Friday, we went to the ministry to remind them of their primrose knowing that the end of the month was near, they told us that they did not make any promise and that they do not know when our monies would be paid.”
Government had earlier promised to pay the arrears of the caterers by close of month in May but that has not been fulfilled.
Ms Appiah Korang said “we have decided to stop cooking from Monday across Ghana. All caterers are going to stop cooking from Monday and we are going to hold a press conference to that effect. We are waiting for our regional executives to come together and we will make our concerns known.”
The school feeding programme has suffered from lack of financing and this has lingered for years. Successive governments have struggled to deal with the funding of the program which has led to its unending problems.
By Martin Asiedu-Dartey|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @NewsyMartin