When a government is out of ideas and is on the verge of losing power due to non-performance, it ends up clutching at straws.
A typical example is the promise by President Akufo Addo to feed JHS 3 students and staffs from August 24 to September 18. This is not something with celebrating and it cannot be a clever initiative of the Akufo Addo government we should be clapping for.
At best, it is one of the exploitative ways Akufo Addo and his nation grabbers have identified to once again enrich it’s Women Organizers who have been awarded school feeding contracts under the School Feeding Programme but have been idling due to the shutdown of schools. For some time now, Women Organizers of the NPP have been on the neck of Party leaders to impress on the President to reopen schools because they are out of business. Because schools have been shutdown, the women organizers no longer cook for the pupils. The only time they had something to do was when the government initiative it’s corruption-laden programme of cooking for some selected people during the lockdown.
After that, they have been out of jobs; with some idling and knocking on the doors of Party bigwigs to find something for them to do. I understand the the NPP National Women Organizer, Kate Gyamfua had to confront Sammy Awuku recently over this issue. In order not to incur the displeasure of these women, the Party proposed to the President to allow the women awarded school feeding contracts to cook for JHS 3 pupils and staffs for the remaining 25 days by which time the President will announce the reopening of schools. Now if you have asked women to extend the school feeding program to JHS 3 pupils and staffs for 25 days after which the policy will no longer cover them, what is worth celebrating about this?
The danger is that, after the 25 days, the Finance Ministry will quote very outrageous amount as money spent on the feeding. But come to think of it, these JHS 3 pupils have been in school since June 30, but nobody in the government saw wisdom to do anything for them until now that they are almost out of school. The John Mahama I know will not claim this as an achievement, especially when he has tangible achievements to point to. It is only a government that has failed in delivering on its lofty promises that will boast about this.
The President even lied that he took this initiative in order to ensure strict adherence to covid19 protocols. How does cooking for people ensure adherence to the protocols? These are pupils that will end up queuing for this food and it will worsen the situation. When it was announced that JHS 3s will resume schools, the Deputy Direct-General for Quality and Access for the Ghana Education Service Mr. Kwabena Bempah Tandoh stated that Junior High School students will not be spending more than four hours in school per day.
He was quoted to have said “In our JHS, what we are saying is that they will only be in school for only 4 hours a day; they start at 9 and complete at 1. This is because of the health and well-being checks at hand.”
What happened to this audacious measure then?
Amos Blessing Amorse
Deputy Greater Accra Regional Youth Organizer
National Democratic Congress