The Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum has confirmed that government owes the National Food Buffer Stock Company an outstanding amount of GH¢ 340 million.
The government’s indebtedness to the company and other factors has occasioned a shortage of food items in some high schools in the country.
Responding to questions in Parliament, Dr Osei-Adutwum said the government was working towards clearing the debt and ending the food shortage in Senior High Schools.
He noted that the government has paid over GH¢327 million to the company this year to ensure food supply to schools.
“Upper West and all the regions where there was a crisis in the last few days, they have all seen improvement in terms of supplies that are coming to them, and they will continue to see improvements from today on.”
Reacting to the Education Minister’s remarks, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, said he was not convinced by the assurances.
He views the shortages as a Finance Ministry issue and said the Education Ministry has no solution to offer as far as the shortage of food items in schools is concerned.
“I will take an assurance from the Ministry of Finance because the issue is absolutely outside the purview or the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education,” he said.
“I will take assurances from the Ministry of Finance that the Finance Ministry will respect the disbursement or the cash flow projections as submitted to it by the Ministry of Education. Other than that, we will be having this discussion within two months again.”