The National Food Suppliers Association has revealed that the government is still indebted to its members by a sum exceeding GH¢300 million for the food deliveries made to various senior high schools across the nation.
In an assertive move, disgruntled members of the association gathered at the premises of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCo) on Friday, August 18th. Their purpose was to call for the settlement of 200 million Ghanaian cedis in outstanding payments owed to the suppliers for their services rendered during the year 2022.
This recent action follows a series of protests initiated by the suppliers, who began picketing at the Buffer Stock premises back in July. Their decision to protest was triggered by months of appeals to the government, urging them to fulfill their financial commitments. The overdue payments were seen as vital to sustaining their businesses in the face of mounting financial strain.
The suppliers’ frustration deepened after a partial payment was made to them, a response that fell short of their expectations.
Kwaku Amedume, a spokesperson for the food suppliers association, clarified that their presence at NAFCo’s premises was a direct result of their urgent need for the outstanding payments. These arrears have not only posed financial difficulties but have also suffered from the erosion of their value over the span of the two-year outstanding period.
“When we picketed the last time, the government was able to raise GH¢100 million to be disbursed to members with the promise that they were going to get us the balance on August 17. So what happened was that some of our members approached the buffer stock to enquire about how far they were preparing to settle us. We went into a meeting with them [on August 18] and the information was that the Ministry of Education has released GH¢80 million to be disbursed to the suppliers and that will bring up the total payment for 2022 to GH¢180 million representing about 85 percent of the total arrears owed suppliers.”
“We still have 2023 arrears that range a little around 300 million Ghanaian cedis that they have promised to do something about it in two weeks’ time, and so we actually went to the Buffer Stock to find out when we were going to be paid.”
