The first term’s arrears for school feeding caterers across the country have been paid by the Ghanaian government, acting through the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.
The payment was made just a few days after Ashanti region caterers threatened to stage a demontration in protest of their unpaid bills.
The Head of Public Relations, Siiba Alfa, announced in a statement that there were 58 cooking days in total for the first term of the 2023–2024 academic year, which started on October 3, 2023.
The message also mentioned that the National Secretariat has received some graphic complaints from caterers regarding purported underpayments from the most recent payment.
Therefore, in order to receive timely redress, the secretariat has instructed all caterers who actually experience underpayment or no payment to complain right away to their regional coordinators.
The statement explained:
“However, four days were deducted from the total amount due to official communication instructing caterers to use 3rd to 6th October 2023 to clean up their kitchen environment. As a result, the official cooking day for the term commenced on 9th October 2023.
“Consequently, the caterers were paid for 54 cooking days at GH¢1.20 per child. It is pertinent for caterers to note that the payment is according to the number of days they were able to feed beneficiary pupils during the term,”
“The issues would be thoroughly investigated to ascertain whether all the affected Caterers cooked throughout the term or they were rather affected by non-cooking days’ deductions. The National Secretariat therefore urges the Caterers to remain calm whilst we make the necessary efforts to address the issues,”
Statement below:
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