The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, says he will overhaul the supply chain of food items to Senior High Schools (SHS) as part of his broader vision to review the Free SHS policy.
In his proposal, Mr Mahama aims to eliminate the role of the National Food Buffer Stock Company in supplying food items to SHSs.
During his Building Ghana Tour at Kambatiak in the North East Region, Mr Mahama reiterated his pledge to decentralize the procurement of food items for SHSs if he wins the upcoming polls.
Under his proposed system, feeding grants would be directed through the heads of SHSs, empowering them to independently procure food items for students.
Mr Mahama emphasised that this decentralised approach would streamline the process, enabling headmasters or mistresses to promptly procure food supplies for their students without relying on the National Buffer Stock for deliveries.
By bypassing the intermediary role of the Buffer Stock Company, Mr Mahama aims to expedite the provision of food to SHSs and enhance operational efficiency.
“We are coming to decentralise the cooking of food for children and the procurement of food. The headmasters of the schools are going to be responsible for procuring food for the children. They are not going to sit and wait for National Buffer Stock to bring the food. If we decentralise the procurement of food, the headmasters will be able to procure the food from the farmers in the area and they will be able to buy groundnuts, they will be able to buy beans, they will be able to buy vegetables so that the children can get a nutritious diet. And so the feeding grants should not go to Buffer Stock.”
“The feeding grants should be paid directly to the secondary schools so that the headmasters can use the money and buy nutritious food for the children. And so we are going to make Free SHS better,” he said.
