Sacking School Feeding boss an “administrative error” – Adwoa Safo

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Sarah Adwoa Safo has reinstated Gertrude Quashigah as the National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme.

A statement released on May 20 indicated that the earlier dismissal of Mrs Quashigah was due to an “administrative error”.

It is not clear why the sector ministry rescinded its decision just three days after its earlier statement announcing the dismissal.

A letter from the ministry on May 18 directed Mrs Quashigah to hand over any official document or property in her custody to the chief director of the ministry.

The letter followed the Ghana Police Service announcement that it had begun investigations into alleged corruption in implementing the School Feeding Programme in some Senior High Schools.

Some 53 schools in the Ashanti Region were cited for allegedly exchanging food for cash.

The ministry expressed its gratitude for Madam Quashigah’s support towards executing her mandate at the GSFP Secretariat during the period.

But per this new directive, the National Coordinator of the School Feeding programme will continue to steer the affairs of the programme.

The Ghana School Feeding Program (GSFP), which started in 2005, is an initiative of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) Pillar 3, which seeks to enhance food security and reduce hunger in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on hunger, poverty and malnutrition.

The basic concept of the programme is to provide children in public primary schools with one hot, nutritious meal, prepared from locally grown foodstuffs, on every school-going day.

The aim is to spend 80% of the feeding cost in the local economy.