Govt announces payment of arrears owed school feeding caterers

The government has announced the payment of some of arrears owed to caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme across the 16 regions of Ghana.

In a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, the National Secretariat of the Ghana School Feeding Programme stated that it has paid all first-term arrears owed to the caterers for the 2023/2024 academic year.

It added that in total, the caterers were paid their GH¢1.20 cost per student covering the 54 days they provided students with hot meals.

"The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has paid the first-term arrears of caterers under the Programme in all the 16 regions.

"The total number of cooking days for the first term of the 2023/2024 academic year, which began on October 3, 2023, was 58. However, four days were deducted from the total amount due to official communication instructing caterers to use October 3 to 6, 2023, to clean up their kitchen environment. As a result, the official cooking day for the term commenced on October 9, 2023," part of the statement reads.

It added, "Consequently, the caterers were paid for 54 cooking days at the rate of One Ghana Cedi Twenty Pesewas (GH¢1.20) per child per every school-going day. 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 secretariat also stated that it has become aware of complaints of underpayments in previous payments by caterers from the 16 regions.

It directed that caterers who were underpaid or not paid at all should immediately report to their Regional Coordinators for prompt redress.

"The issues will 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."

BAI/EK

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