‘Buffer Stock Company gave food supply contracts to NPP folks’ – John Mahama alleges

Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress has alleged that the National Food Buffer Stock Company has given contracts to members of the New Patriotic Party to supply food to returning students of Senior High Schools (SHS).

According to John Mahama, there has been inconsistency and politicization with the implementation of the Free SHS programme which was a campaign promise by the New Patriotic Party.

Speaking on Accra-based ClassFM on Monday September 14, monitored by GhanaWeb, the former president alleged, “The Buffer Stock Company has been giving contracts to NPP people to supply the schools with food and even in procuring the food, farmers cannot sell their stock directly to the company but have to go through agents.”

“I know a farmer who said he had 1,000 mini bags of maize, he wanted to sell it to the Buffer Stock and he was asked to see someone else who will then purchase the maize and supply it to the Food Buffer Stock Company,” he claimed.

On the roll-out of the Free SHS programme, the former president suggested there was a lot of inefficiency in the implementation of the programme.

“It’s not about just the quantity and getting as many children into the programme as possible but rather making them benefit from the programme in terms of the quality of the programme. There is also a certain sense of entitlement in politicizing the Free SHS programme with President Akufo-Addo calling final year students Akufo-Addo graduates. They are not Akufo-Addo graduates but they are rather Ghanaian graduates,” he lamented.