Caterers under the government’s School Feeding Programme have rejected the proposed increment in the daily cost of a meal per child to GH¢1.20.
This comes after the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu, in a press briefing on Sunday, indicated that talks about increasing the cost of a meal from 97 pesewas to GH¢1.20 were still ongoing.
According to the caterers, the amount is woefully insufficient and unacceptable.
The caterers have been on strike since April 2023 over unpaid arrears.
They demand that the government raise the daily amount to GH¢3.50 per child before they call off the strike.
Speaking on the proposal, Dorothy Ofori Sarpong, the spokesperson for the caterers in the Ashanti Region, expressed the group’s displeasure with the minister’s response.
“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.
“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,” she said.
She added that “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.”
The caterers also want the gender minister to visit various districts to appreciate the challenges of their members.
Meanwhile, the minister assured the caterers would receive the 2022 academic year third term arrears due them next week.
Madam Abudu revealed that the files of about 11,052 caterers had been cleared for payment, while 76 are still pending due to challenges with their E-Zwich cards.