Schools under the National School Feeding Programme are likely to go hungry as caterers have declared a nationwide strike citing the government’s inability to pay them their arrears and increase the amount per child.
The aggrieved caterers who came from different regions across Ghana converged in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi emphasized that declaring the nationwide strike is the only option available to them now.
During a news conference to make their grievances known, the caterers lamented that they are enduring so much as the hardship in the economy is unbearable. The leadership of the caterers has thus urged all members across the country to join the strike to impress on the government to address their concerns as early as possible.
One of their leaders, Gifty Asamoah while addressing the media said they have exhausted all their funds and are yet to get any feedback from the government on when their arrears will be paid them.
She claimed that despite providing essential services in schools, school-feeding caterers are not given the same level of respect given to other professions.
“School feeding caterers are public servants like teachers, Police, Doctors, nurses and other employees that provide state services but we are being discriminated against. Can government refuse to pay teachers for even one month, why are they doing the opposite when it comes to caterers? A contract is a contract and our human rights must be abused.”
According to them, they will also resort to a nationwide protest if their arrears are not paid as early as possible.
