Some School Feeding Programme caterers in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, have stated that if the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wins the 2024 general elections, they will lose their jobs.
Dorothy Ofori-Sarpong, a caterer hired by the Ashanti Regional School Feeding Programme to provide meals for schoolchildren, says she and her colleagues are NPP members.
She stated that if the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins the next elections, the caterers will not be retained, and that all current caterers must be NPP members.
In an interview with Citi FM in Accra, Ofori-Sarpong stated that the job is sacrificial, so it takes a party member to support the program. This also explains the level of attrition that has occurred at the school feeding program since its inception by the Kufuor administration, with caterers being dismissed en masse upon a change in government, to be replaced by party members.
We all know that if the NDC comes to power, we will all lose our jobs… She stated, “All of us are NPP members.”
Her comments come after the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, snubbed some caterers on the region’s school feeding program.
On Monday, April 3, 2023, the caterers arrived at the Regional Coordinating Council to present a petition to the Minister regarding their unpaid allocation.
Caterers have been protesting for weeks for the release of payment that has been in arrears for nearly a year. The caterers have also stated that they want the allocation fee raised from 97 pesewas per head to GH3.
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The aggrieved women claimed that the demand for an increase in allocation is due to market price increases for foodstuffs and other food commodities.
They’ve been arguing with the regional school feeding secretariat, but nothing has come of it.
After weeks of receiving no response from the government, they decided to send their grievance to the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, who is in charge of the school feeding program.
They were disappointed, however, when the minister snubbed them and left them stunned.
Mercy Ofosu Mensah, the group’s leader, called the minister’s actions “unfortunate.”
