The caterers participating in the School Feeding Programme have declined the proposed GH¢1.20 raise suggested by Lariba Zuweira Abudu, the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection. The caterers find the increment insufficient and unacceptable.
Since schools reopened, the caterers have stopped providing their services and are demanding that the government increase the daily amount allotted per child and settle any outstanding debts. The caterers who are dissatisfied with the situation have requested a payment of GH¢3.50 per child before they end their strike. Dorothy Ofori Sarpong, the spokesperson for the caterers in the Ashanti Region, expressed her dissatisfaction with the Minister’s response to their concerns.
Also Read: School feeding: Cost per meal per day for a child increased from GHS0.97p to GHS1.20
“We are not going to cook, we are still on strike, though the Minister has spoken. What she came to say wasn’t to our satisfaction. The arrears that she claimed has been cleared with the exception of the 2022 third term are not so. There are arrears as far back as 2019, 2020, and 2021…so if she is saying all arrears have been paid, it is not so.
“With the amount of GH¢1.20 proposal, we are not going to agree. We cannot use this to cook any better food for the children, and so we pray that she goes back and come and tell us something better.”
