Africa Education Watch has praised the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service for their success in investigating some 53 Senior High Schools accused of diverting food supplies.
According to the think tank, numerous studies, including the Auditor General’s report, provided details indicating certain irregularities with the procurement and usage of Free SHS food, but no indication of the extent of such a problem was given.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Monday, May 10, 2021, Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, said the development is shocking because most headmasters had suggested that the foods given to the schools were insufficient or of poor quality.
He was perplexed as to how, in the face of inadequate food supplies, schools were willing to reduce the amount of food prepared for students and sell a portion of it on the open market.
“We [Africa Education Watch] have not experienced such an event since the implementation of the Free SHS program, despite hearing about such incidents across different mediums. Some headmasters argue that the food is insufficient, while others wonder why school heads could do food for cash and reduce the food that they’ve received while also managing it for the whole population. It actually defies my imagination because they have been complaining about not having enough food,” he said.
On Monday, it was revealed that the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is investigating 53 Senior High Schools in the Ashanti Region for suspected corruption in the execution of the School Feeding Programme under the Free Senior High School policy.
The GES has also written to the Ashanti Regional Directorate to request that all school principals and other authorities assist with the continuing investigations.
Afia Serwaa Kobi Ampem SHS, Adu Gyamfi SHS, Kumasi Anglican, Kumasi Girls, Kumasi Wesley Girls, KNUST SHS, and Opoku Ware SHS are among the schools listed in the declaration.
According to Kofi Asare, the situation is still dicey. He expects the CID to do a better job by ensuring that food disbursement and object usage are handled correctly.
“We can only anticipate the CID to dig even further into the matter and ensure that there is value for money.” We applaud the GES and CID for their joint efforts.”
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
