By Maxwell Ofori
Caterers of the School Feeding Programme, yesterday, picketed at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, over GH¢144 million arrears owed them by government.
The arrears spanned from June 2016 to May 2017, and strongly making a case for their demand, the women threatened to stop cooking for the school children, should the government fail to clear its debts by the end of this month.
Speaking with The Chronicle at the premises, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the School Feeding Caterers’ Association, Maame Yaa Duodua Appiah-Korang, said that they had not received any payments from June 2016 to May 2017.
Breaking it down, the PRO noted that the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government owed them 100 days (June to December 2016), which amounted to GH¢144 million, however, she could not quantify from when the new administration took over, to date.
She said the caterers could not fathom why they had not been paid, albeit a statement they had seen, indicating that funds had been released for that.
“In February, when we met the Minister, she assured us of paying the old debt of 100 days, but unfortunately, she paid us for only 25 days. 75 days are in arrears, excluding the 71 days this administration took over government, from January to May, per our calendar,” she explained.
She said the caterers had exhausted all avenues for financial assistance, but to no avail, because they received their payments via mobile money accounts.
Due to this, she said, they could not go to the banks for loans, because their payments did not pass through them, adding that all their creditors had refused to lend them money, due to their indebtedness.
However, the National School Feeding Secretariat at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection assured the caterers that all arrears owed them, from December 2016, would be paid by the end of May.
“We owe them 140 days, but 75 days have matured for payment. We have made a lot of efforts to get the monies paid, but because of the change in government, we have to go through some processes. We still need to have some administrative processes cleared.
“Based on how far we have come, we believe that, hopefully, by the end of this month, we would possibly make the payment,” the women were assured.
The post School Feeding Caterers Take Over Gender Ministry appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.
By Maxwell Ofori Caterers of the School Feeding Programme, yesterday, picketed at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, over GH¢144 million arrears owed them by government. The arrears spanned from June 2016 to May 2017, and strongly making a case for their demand, the women threatened to stop cooking for the school children, […]
The post School Feeding Caterers Take Over Gender Ministry appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.
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