Caterers in school feeding program serving pupils mouldy, distasteful food – AG report

The 2022 Auditor-General’s report has disclosed that unwholesome food is being served to basic school pupils under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP).

A performance audit report conducted by the Auditor-General uncovered that mouldy corn dough was used in some of the schools the team visited.

The findings revealed that Jollof rice and other dishes were also prepared without any protein, contrary to the requirements of the programme.

The report also disclosed dissatisfaction among teachers and pupils with the bad nature of the food they were been served with.

The AG’s report indicated that pupils and teachers interviewed during the visits said all complaints about the poor food were ignored.

“We noted during our visits to the schools that, not all the caterers used wholesome food items to prepare meals. For instance, at the Ankyernyin D/A Basic School, we observed in the presence of the Western Regional Coordinator and the caterer, that the cooks prepared jollof without any protein contrary to the requirements in the National Operations Manual.

“Also, the cook at the Kanfakrom D/A school in the Western Region used corn dough that had gone mouldy to prepare banku for the pupils.

“Our interactions with the pupils in all the schools we visited generally indicated that, they had complained to the teachers about either the lack of or inadequate fish, foreign materials in their meals, bad palm oil served with watery beans, and the bad smell and taste of food. However, the caterers still provided poor quality meals for them, hence their difficulty in eating the meals.”