School Feeding irregularities will be solved - Gender Minister

Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cynthia Mamle Morrison has taken pragmatic steps to resolve irregularities associated with the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) as discovered by the Auditor General.

The 2018 Auditor General’s Report revealed several financial irregularities leading to huge financial losses to the state, prompting the sector Minister to take measures to clean the GSFP system.

A letter sighted by 3news.com addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Youth Employment Agency, YEA, copied to the Acting National Coordinator of GSFP, indicated the minister’s resolve to get the irregularities rectified.

“I will be most grateful if you could kindly use your good office to carry out a nationwide comprehensive assessment (verification, validation, etc.) of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, to enable the ministry clean and update its records for credible payments”, the letter states.

The minister enumerated the numerous challenges facing the programme, suggesting that the main reason for the validation exercise is to ensure a cost-effective programme. “This request has become necessary due to the numerous challenges facing the programme,” the Gender Minister reiterated.

In responding to the request, the CEO of Youth Employment Agency, Justin Kodua Frimpong, has deployed about 700 monitoring and evaluation officers across the country for the exercise starting August 26 to 29, 2019.

The exercise which seeks to clean the GSFP irregularities as reported by Auditor General would be done through the use of a computer software application powered by Millennium Promise Alliance, an international NGO working with the Ministry of Gender and YEA.

Meanwhile, a letter by the National Coordinator of GSFP Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah to regional coordinators is asking all caterers to provide the following for the exercise:

1. National Photo ID

2. Contract letter for 2017/2018

3. E-zwich cards

4. Payments strips (receipt)

5. Enrollment number for 2nd & 3rd term of 2018/2019 academic year

6. Arrears owed them (if any).

7. Two passport size photos

Etc.