Mahama Promises To Decentralise Food Supply To SHSs If He Becomes President

• National Democratic Congress flagbearer, John Mahama, says his future government would decentralise the procurement and supply of foodstuffs to senior high schools
• According to him, the current system where the Buffer Stock Company procures and distributes food to schools is unsustainable
• The former president had earlier announced plans to review the free senior high school to make it optimal

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has vowed to decentralise the supply of food items to senior high schools across the country.

He noted that the current system, in which the procurement and supply of foodstuffs to schools are handled solely by the Buffer Stock company, is not sustainable and is directly responsible for the food shortage phenomenon that has hit schools in recent years.

Speaking at Kambatiak in the North East Region during his Building Ghana Tour, John Mahama stated that should he be made president following the 2024 general elections, he would return food grants back to the heads of senior high schools.

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This, he said, would allow heads of schools to procure nutritious meals for students without delay, and bring an end to the vexatious food shortage phenomenon.

He also stated that decentralising the supply of foodstuffs would allow for economic development within the school locales, as school heads would procure the foodstuffs from local farmers and suppliers.

John Mahama said his interventions would improve the Free SHS programme for students and the country.

Mass discontent with Buffer stock’s unpaid suppliers

Last year, food suppliers thronged the premises of the Buffer Stock Company to demand the full payment of two-years arrears owed them.

For two nights straight, scores of food suppliers, most of them female, spent the night in the open at the premises of the National Food Buffer Stock Company.

The company manages the state's emergency food security reserves by working with farmers and other food suppliers to mop up excess produce from all farmers to reduce post-harvest losses like spoilage due to poor storage.

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On July 6, 2023, Agricultural Minister Bryan Acheampong told the picketing food suppliers that he would contact the Ministry of Finance to settle their two-year arrears.

The minister also assured them that he would contact them with a date for the payment by Friday afternoon.

Mahama to review Free SHS programme

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Mahama, has again pledged to review the Free Senior High School Policy.

Mahama said he would review the policy within the first 100 days of office if he won the 2024 election.

Source: YEN.com.gh