- Government ends caterers' contracts despite earlier directive to continue
- Many caterers had already purchased food for the 2024/2025 term
- Some took loans to buy supplies and now face financial losses
Caterers under the School Feeding Program are urging the government to uphold a previous directive allowing them to continue their contracts through the 2024/2025 academic year.
This appeal follows a letter issued on May 2 that abruptly terminated the contracts of all caterers—despite earlier communication assuring them they could continue until the academic year’s end.
Gifty Asamoah, President of the Concerned School Feeding Caterers Association, expressed frustration, noting that many caterers had already bought food supplies for the term.
“We’ve purchased foodstuffs like fish and groundnuts from Ejura. These were meant to be distributed, but we had to halt deliveries after the termination notice. We’ve lost significant money,” she said.
Initially, the caterers had planned to withdraw their services following the change in government but decided to stay on after receiving instructions to continue through the academic year.
Asamoah emphasized the confusion caused by the conflicting directives:
“We had started removing our utensils from schools, but were later told we would continue. I had to return mine, only to be told days before the term started that our contracts were canceled.”
The termination letter was issued just three working days before the new school term began, leaving caterers who had already made significant purchases scrambling. In places like Krapa in the Ejisu Municipality, caterers had bought large quantities of dried fish, vegetables, and canned goods, much of which now risk going to waste.
Asamoah appealed directly to the President, stating:
“If this decision had been communicated earlier, we wouldn’t have made these purchases. Now, we don’t know what to do with all this food.”
In the Ashanti Region, members of the Progressive School Feeding Caterers Association had even taken out a group loan to buy food in bulk. They were forced to halt deliveries after the termination notice and now worry that suppliers won’t refund their payments.
