Tension is brewing in the Sherigu community of the Bolgatanga Municipality as angry youth from the Basengo-Nyokoko Electoral Area stormed three public schools and forcefully locked their kitchens to protest what they described as political marginalization in the award of Ghana School Feeding Programme contracts.
The rampaging youth, numbering over ten, disrupted the Ghana School Feeding Programme at the Sherigu Primary School, Basengo Primary School, and Nyokoko Primary School. The incident, which occurred early Monday morning, 23rd June, saw the youth drive out caterers who had arrived to prepare meals for pupils and lock the kitchens, vowing not to allow any cooking to resume.
The youth argue that although the three schools are located within their electoral area, none of the appointed caterers are natives or residents of the Basengo-Nyokoko electoral zone. According to them, this reflects a blatant disregard for their community’s interest and participation in public benefits.
“We feel completely disrespected and sidelined,” said Atanga Ayine Oliver, leader of the group. “These are our schools, yet none of our people were considered for the contracts despite applying and being capable. Rather, they have awarded the three schools in our electoral area to “strangers”. The question is, why were our people not also given the catering jobs in other electoral areas? How can we sit quietly and watch this happen?”
They are demanding that at least one of the cooking contracts for any of the three schools be awarded to a resident of their electoral area, warning that until that happens, the kitchens will remain locked indefinitely.
The situation has disrupted the school feeding process, raising concerns about pupil welfare and school attendance, especially in low-income households that rely heavily on the program for daily nutrition.
One of the caterers affected is reported to be Stephen Akugre, the Presiding Member of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly and Assemblyman for the Kumblingo electoral area, a neighbouring community to the Basengo-Nyokoko electoral area in the Sherigu community. Mr. Akugre, who happens to be one of the “strangers” who are providing catering services in the Basengo-Nyokoko electoral area, confirmed the development but declined to comment further. He stated that he has since reported the matter to the Regional School Feeding Coordinator, Fawzia Yakubu Abagnamah, and the Municipal Chief Executive, Roland Atanga Ayoo.
Efforts to reach Madam Abagnamah for comment were unsuccessful, as her phone remained switched off at the time of filing this report.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bolgatanga
