Following complaints about the shortage of food in schools and the non-payment of caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Program (GSFP), Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has charged five committees of Parliament to investigate into the affairs of GSFP and the National Buffer Stock Company (NBSC).
The Committees are Education, Gender, Children and Social Protection; Health; Food and Agriculture and Finance.
“I am directing leaders of the following five committees to constitute an adhoc Committee to investigate the activities of these two organisations and report to Parliament on the feasibility, sustainability and state of affairs of the two programs”, Speaker Bagbin directed .
The Speaker further directed the adhoc committee to ensure that they present their reports to the House before the end of October 2022.
He asked the heads of the committee to be guided by article 106(14) of the 1992 constitution and Parliament’s Standing Order 136 for the time limits in the submission of their reports.
Article 106(14) states that: “(14) A Bill introduced in Parliament by or on behalf of the President shall not be delayed for more than three months in any committee of Parliament”.
He noted that even though article 104 (14) deals specifically with public bills, it nevertheless, give an indication of how long Ghanaians expect a matter referred to a Committee of Parliament for investigation and enquiry could take and asked leadership of the five committees forming the adhoc Committee to take note.
Speaker Bagbin said he drew members attention to article 106(14) and Standing Order 136 because there has been times when some committees have refused to submit reports within the stimulated time.
He noted that although there are sanctions for members who default on timelines, he had refrained from applying such sanctions but will not hesitate to apply them this time if members fail to comply.
Explaining why probing the two GSFP and NBSC was key, Speaker Bagbin noted that he cited some inconsistencies in the operations of the two programs when he paid a visit to the two organisations as part of Parliament’s oversight responsibility.
On GSFP, Speaker Bagbin noted that although the National Coordinator, Mrs Gertrude Quashigah, in the presence of her management team bemoaned the Ministry of Finance’s inability to pay the caterers on time. She forcefully insisted that the information in the public domain about the non-payment of caterers for a period of time was not accurate.
Meanwhile, a report by Send Ghana, on tendering and procurement processes of services and caterers for the program captured most of the caterers, pointing to the persistent payment delays and inadequate grant value as major factors undermining the delivery of quality of service to the school children.
On the NBSC, the Speaker said that “Let me also state that there exist obvious gaps between what the National Food Buffer Stock Company claim to supply and the realities that are unfolding in the education sector, particularly in relation to Senior High Schools.”
He made reference to a July 7, 2022 publication by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Upper West Region about the refusal of NFBS to supply food items to Senior High Schools.
Speaker Bagbin said that the lives and proper development of children are critical to the future of this country and one cannot standby and do nothing as things deteriorate, hence the decision to probe the two organisations.
“We must be able to oversee government to set the priorities of this country right! I am deeply concerned about the well-being and competence of these future leaders. We need to work in concert with government to educate, train and develop smart and intelligent human resource for Ghana’s future.”
