Gov�t Lacks The Will To Sustain School Feeding � Tuffuor

A Former Coordinator of the National School Feeding Programme says government�s lack of political will to sustain the programme is largely to blame for many challenges bedeviling the programme. Under the programme, school children in selected public basic schools are to be fed free meals on school days. But the programme is currently fraught with several bottlenecks as many caterers have not been paid their monies for close to three terms. The caterers who are being pestered by creditors are compelled to either compromise on food quality or cut down the number of days they cook for the pupils. The current Coordinator of the programme, Seidu Amadu has admitted on Ultimate Radio that his outfit was under pressure because funding from government isn�t forthcoming. But Dr. Amoako Tuffour, who was the first Coordinator for the programme introduced in the NPP era, says until government sees the need to prioritize the programme in its budgetary allocations, it will continue to suffer. Speaking on the Ultimate Morning Show in Kumasi, Dr. Amoako Tuffour said �It is a disgrace for the government to sit down and allow poor caterers to go and borrow food to cook for children for months when Government is not paying them. Do you know what happens to some of those women when they have to avoid their creditors because they have not paid back what they bought for five months and over? They are sometimes beaten in the markets and in their homes� he claimed. He opined that the programme required some kind of mental orientation towards social support programmes, which according to him; the incumbent government seems to lack. He explained that, �if the government does not have the will to carry through the programme, it becomes very difficult because budgets have to be made, and like everything else, another important thing we must realize is that these children whose parents are not able to feed them properly, are citizens too and have the right to be fed.� According to Dr Amoako Tuffour, the school feeding programme has to be considered a critical priority for government�s expenditure. Explaining this, he indicated �even if the government has ten cedis for the country and it has to give something for the school feeding, as a result of good considerations, it must make that money available�. He is calling on the President to lay aside the shame and call for help from relevant technocrats and policy makers to revive the programme, a consultation he Dr. Amoako Tuffour is ready to offer for free. Dr. Amoako Tuffour said any attempt to collapse the programme, �amounts to an infringement on the rights of the children and is ready to back any�person who sees any legal grounds in the argument, to sue government on behalf of the school children for the neglect of their constitutional right to be fed.� The first five years of the programme was partly sponsored by the Netherlands Government. But the country has struggled to sustain it since the partners did not renew their support.