Michael Adombire, a member of the New Patriotic Party’s Regional Communication Team has explained that he does not understand the furore that has greeted the revelation that some Senior High Schools within the Upper East Region are feeding the students with a mixture of gari, palm oil along with salt and pepper to taste; a meal the students refer to as ‘gari jollof’.
He said ‘gari’ remains a healthy choice of food for the students, a meal option that he eats himself.
It would be recalled that A1 Radio’s Moses Apiah aired a story that exposed the plight of students of some senior highs in the region. The report suggested that the students were unhappy with the ‘gari jollof’ and the ‘donkey saliva’ they were served with.
One of the students who spoke on the basis of anonymity, said, “gari with beans is always like a soil profile as the palm oil will be at the top, followed by water and then the beans. Tell us how this kind of food can help us have a comfortable studying?”
Dr Clement Apaak, MP for Builsa South and a Member of the Public Accounts Committee also expressed some disquiet about the situation.
He said, “as we speak now, parents have to move in to augment the feeding of their wards. We now have all sorts of dishes; gari jollof, donkey saliva, I mean, the quality of food in itself is detrimental to the wellbeing of these young adolescents. This is the thing that we ought to understand that adolescence is the formative stage of every human being, and so nutritional needs must be taken seriously”.
But responding to these comments on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show yesterday, Monday, April 25, 2022, Mr. Adombire explained that the meals given to the students are healthy. He insisted that gari as a meal, was not a terrible thing as he partakes in the consumption of gari from time to time.
“The children are eating well. We are happy that they are in school. The cooks there, I hope they are qualified cooks. I do not think that if something is bad, they will prepare it for the children. Me, even now, sometimes I just ask my wife to get me some gari. Does that mean that I am not eating quality food? What are we doing to ourselves?”
“You think that now, I have the money to eat good food and I decide to eat gari, does that mean that [it is not good food]?” he asked.
Mr. Adombire called for calm as government resolves the hurdles within the implementation of the programme.
A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
