Parliament sets up adhoc C’tee to probe food shortages in schools

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has constituted a high-powered joint committee to probe challenges bedeviling the school feeding program and the shortage of food in Senior High Schools across the country.

The move follows a surprise visit by the speaker weeks ago to the school feeding secretariat and the national food buffer stock company.

Addressing the House, Bagbin argued the 97 pesewas feeding grant to caterers per pupil is unconscionable.

The leadership of committees of finance, health, Gender, Children and Social Protection, Education, and Food and Agriculture have been tasked to look into the cause of shortage in food supply to free SHS beneficiaries across the country.

According to the former Nadowli-Kaleo MP, the recent reports on food shortages are in sharp contrast with what the CEO of the National Food Buffer Stock Company Abdul Wahab Hanan told him during his visit to the organisation.

He gave the joint committee 3 months to present its report to the plenary.

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Schools in the Upper West Region last week warned that Senior High Schools in the region may soon shut down if the government fails to supply them with adequate foodstuff to feed students.

“It came out that the food suppliers contracted by Buffer Stock Company and those local suppliers contacted to help out are all refusing to supply due to non-payment of outstanding monies owed for food supplied to the schools. This has led to serious food shortages in all the schools in the region. In fact, an assessment of the situation indicated that most schools cannot go beyond one week if nothing urgent is done about it,” a statement from the Upper West branch of CHASS complained.